


God to My Goddess

by Sophrosyne_Lacuna



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, Enemies, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 57,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22051930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophrosyne_Lacuna/pseuds/Sophrosyne_Lacuna
Summary: High School AU Where Annabeth almost gets hit with a car and suddenly she can't live without the person who saved her life.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 13
Kudos: 91





	1. The Crash

God to my goddess

Chapter 1

Annabeths POV

Did I mention I hate hospitals?

The beeping sounds from dozens of monitors. The crying mother off in the distance. The bright fluorescent lights. The tubes and monitors. The occasional team of doctors and nurses running off to save somebody. The needles and meds and pain. And the fact that the only times I've been in one is because I've lost people. And I really didn't need to be in one now. Not right before Christmas. Not in the middle of my junior year of high school. The hardest year. The time I've worked hardest. Right when I was about to get a job and go off on my own. Did I mention I hate hospitals?

Not 24 hours ago, I was enjoying the first few days of winter break. Thalia, my best friend, and I had just hung out in the park. She convinced me to get ice cream with her, despite it being the middle of winter. we walked around the park and she checked out hot guys, but there was no one else crazy enough to be outside right now. She decided to go home when it started to snow gently. I didn't really want to go home right now, I needed a little more time free from my father. I had just said goodbye to Thalia and was heading to the library. I wanted to grab a book and sit in a cafe with a warm cup of hot chocolate for a few hours before I had to go back home. I shivered and pulled my jacket tighter around me as snowflakes continued falling. They fell quicker as I rounded the corner. It wasn't a long walk to the library when it was warm and sunny, which it wasn't. And the ice that formed on the ground overnight, wasn't making my trip any quicker. Luckily, there was barely anyone else crazy enough to be outside with the looming blizzard. Tall buildings did little to shield me from the howling wind, which was starting to fill up. The roads and sidewalks had been deserted since early this morning, with only a few crazies out. Despite the skies being basically clear.

An older woman bumped into me when I stopped to cross the street. "Sorry, I'm sorry" she apologized profusely.

"No harm was done" I laughed it off, "but you should be careful. It's very very slippery out here with this ice on the ground." I looked around. There was no one else around but some teenage boy across the street. " there's no one else here to catch you."

"Oh yes, it's a mess. I'll have to talk to my son about that." She patted me on the shoulder and started to hobble away.

I reach out and grab her arm, "Your son?"

"Oh yes, he can get very careless around this time of year. I'll see if I can't get this whole mess cleared up. Have a nice day, sweetie!" She adjusts her shawl around her shoulders and turns back into the falling snow. She quickly disappears, as if she vanished into thin air.

I stand there for a minute, very confused. I shiver and shake my head and step out into the street. That's when everything went wrong.

I'd been too focused on the woman to notice just how bad it was snowing now. And I hadn't bothered to check for cars, not that I would've been able to see anything anyways. A car flies around the corner. I could hear it before I could see it. Time slowed down. I tried to hurry across the street but my foot slipped on the ice. The car came closer and I was blinded by the headlights. I could not get my footing. Tires screeched. I couldn't stop. The car couldn't stop. I collapsed, ready for death.

But I collapsed into someone's arms. And suddenly I was flung across the ice and out of the way. I couldn't raise my head to see, but I heard it all. The car crashing into the lamp post. The staggered breathing of someone on top of me. A scream.

I opened my eyes. The boy from across the street was curled over my huddled body, shielding me from flying debris. once the noise dies down, he stood and ran over to the car.

"Sir? SIR?" He screamed as he tried to wrench the door open. The window was broken from the crash and he reached in.

"Oh gods," I thought, "there's someone in there." I forced myself to my feet and staggered over there. "Is he okay?"

The boy, who I recognized as a kid in my English class, was fumbling with his phone. He looked up at me. I was holding my self up on the bent car. "Are you?" He asked.

"I am," my vision swam, "how badly did I hurt him?"

"You are most definitely not okay." He stated as I stumbled. he dropped his phone and reached out for me.

"How'd you know?" I asked as my eyes rolled back into my head and I collapsed in his arms. The last thing I remember was the sound of sirens.

Did I mention I hate hospitals?


	2. The Hospital

God to my goddess

Chapter 2

Percy's POV

I have been in and out of this hospital enough that I know most of the regular doctors, but most of the time when I'm here, I'm not the one in the waiting room. The surgeon Apollo rode with us in the ambulance, working his magic on Luke, star of the football team at Goode. He was hurt pretty badly. The girl was curled up in my lap, completely unconscious. I could only hope that she wasn't hurt as well. I brush some of her curly blonde hair out of her face and see that it's Annabeth from my English class. She has always been shy and nerdy and very smart, not someone at your typical party scene.

"You know these two?" Apollo asks as he hooks Luke up to more tubes.

"Vaguely" I reply, " I go to school with them. That's Luke Castellan and this is Annabeth Chase." I'm not even sure how I know Annabeth's last name.

Apollo nods, "Will you be able to get in touch with their parents?"

"Probably."

Apollo pauses and looks up at me, "And, kid? Are you hurt?"

I shrug. "Something hit me in the arm, but it's nothing serious."

He just nods again. "Will you be willing to give a statement to the police? Tell them what happened?"

"Eventually," I say numbly. I'm really not in the mood to talk to anyone or relive what happened.

Apollo seems shocked. I've never agreed to go to the police before, despite all of his pleadings, but all of those times it's always been about me. This time it isn't. And besides, it was no one's fault.

We go over a bump in the road and Annabeth rolls over in my lap, she grabs my arms and goes limp again, like someone who rolled over in the middle of the night and fell back asleep. I look back up at Apollo. "How bad is it?" I ask, looking at the pale face of our star quarterback.

He doesn't even look up. "Not gonna lie to you kid, it doesn't look good. But he may be strong yet"

A team of nurses is waiting for us when we arrive. I don't recognize any of them under their mouth guards and firm faces. every one of them sees the gravity of the situation. Most of them immediately jump up and wheel Luke out and away. Apollo follows. No doubt, he'll be the one performing surgery the surgery on Luke.

Two nurses remain behind looking at me and Annabeth. "Is she okay?" The female one asks.

I just shake my head. The other nurse pulls out a stretcher and I climb out of the ambulance with her still in my arms. I go to lay her down, but she clings harder to me. "Can I just carry her?"

The woman nods curtly and leads me inside. We walk down many hallways. I wish I could say I've gotten used to the sounds here, but I haven't. We approach a set of closed doors and the woman looks at her counterpart. He says, "I'm sorry sir, but you can't come back here." He takes Annabeth's limp form from me and the three disappear down more hallways. I stand there for a second but then turn back towards the waiting room.

I know I should call my mom first but I can't bring myself to. She'll worry too much about me, and I really do not want to relive the moment right now. I surprise my self when I call my cousin, Thalia. She picks up on the first ring.

"What's up, Kelp Head?"

"I...I...I'm at the hospital."

"Again?"

"No...well yes, but not for me. I witnessed a car crash."

"Oh my gods, Perce, is everyone okay?" I can practically hear her jump off her bed and start digging around for her car keys.

"I don't know. But listen Thals, it was Luke and..."

"Luke? The Luke. The god on the field? My Luke?" Though she'd never say it out loud to me, I know she likes him and has for a while.

"Yea... I gotta make some more calls, let other people know and stuff. Be safe on the road, Thals. Bye." I hang up and hang my head in defeat. Why in the world would I call her? Sure she's my cousin, but we were never really close. Whenever the cousins hung out, me, Nico and Jason would go play video games and she'd hang out with Hazel, who isn't even technically our cousin. And as much I wish she was rushing here for me, she was probably doing it for Luke and Anna-. I smack my self on the head. Annabeth! Thalia's best friend. How could I forget? She's going to kill me when she gets here for not telling her. At least she can get me in touch with Annabeth's parents, and if she's enough of a stalker, Luke's too.

"Percy?"

I look up and see Will Solace. He's a year younger than me and used to be on the Goode swim team until he decided he'd rather be a medical intern.

"Yea?"

"The police are downstairs, they want to talk to you." Short, sweet, and polite. That's how he's always been.

"Thanks. How are Luke and Annabeth doing?" I stand up and stretch.

He shakes his head. "Still doing tests on Annabeth, but she seems okay. Luke, however, is about to go into major brain surgery. And I called his mom for you."

"Thanks," I say again, "I wasn't sure how I was going to contact her."

"And Annabeth's parents?" For a medical intern, constantly working with patients, he is very laconic, something I noticed when we were on the swim team together.

"My cousins best friend," I respond simply, knowing Thalia will be able to get in contact.

He nods.

"Keep me updated," I call as he leaves.

He nods again without looking back.

The police keep me longer than expected, so when I make it back to the waiting room, my cousin is there. Dressed in her usual black gothic style, she stands and greets me.

"Hey, Percy."

"Hey, Thalia." I sit down in the chair next to her.

"So what happened? You're not hurt, are you? When can I see him? or is that creepy?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, I'm tempted to laugh. "A girl was crossing the street and a car almost hit her," I say dryly, not really wanting to relive it again.

"Almost? And why do you say it like I know this girl?" Thalia asks slowly.

"Because... because it's Anna-" I close my eyes and look away. I can't do this right now. It was easier when she was a nobody. When I risked my life for a random girl I didn't know. But now she's my cousins best friend. Now, she's a real person.

"Oh, gods no" Thalia's eyes water, threatening to ruin her eyeliner. She looks away from me. "Gods no. Why didn't you tell me on the phone? Percy, why would you keep this from me?"

"I..." I falter, "-I didn't make the connection until after. I didn't realize who she was."

"Oh Percy," she looks away from me, a hand covering her mouth, tears spilling down her cheeks, "Is she gonna be okay?"

I'm not good with girls crying, but Thalia is family. So, it's even more difficult for me. I reach out and put my hand on her shoulder. I try and put as much hope and contempt in my voice as I can. "Probably."

"Do her parents know yet?"

"No, I was hoping you could help me to get in contact with them."

"No, I'll call Erin. It will be easier coming from me." She wipes a tear from her check. I can't help but smile, it's rare to see this much emotion from my cousin. She shyly grins back, "whaaat?"

"Oh nothing, you're just never this emotional."

She blushes slightly but shakes it off. "But again, you said she was almost hit?"

I drop my head to my chest and mumble, "I...I pushed her out of the way."

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "You did what?"

"I couldn't let her get hit."

"And you got out of it unscathed? How?"

Once again, words failed me. "I don't know."

"When can I see her?"

"Soon, I hope. Right now, they say it's family only. And I'm not going to let you pretend to be family. You don't need to get in any more trouble here."

Then she does something I never would've expected from my distant, crazy, dark cousin. She hugs me, really tight. "I'm just glad you're okay, Kelp Head."

"Me too."

"How did you tell Sally?"

I shake my head, "I umm, I haven't called her yet."

Her mouth drops open. "You haven't called your mother yet?" She practically screams at me.

I shake my head again, slightly embarrassed this time. "I don't know, I just couldn't. It's hard on her every time I'm in the hospital."

"I get that, but..." She takes a deep breath, "She's your mother, don't you think she has a right to know."

"Okay, okay, I say, "I'll call her." I pull out my phone and dial her number. "Hey, mom, ...yeah, no, I'm fine. I, umm, Well I was out and umm, this girl was crossing the street and another car coming right at her, and yea, with the ice and all... uh huh, so I uhhh I somehow pushed the girl out from in front of the car. Yea...so, I'm at the hospital, Yeah...Uh huh...Oh no, Thalia's here with me...No, No. Okay. Bye! I love you."

We sit in silence for a few minutes.

I wish I can do more than sit here numbly. I can't leave, Thalia needs the support right now. But I don't want to stay either. There are too many people here for me to be comfortable, but I know too many of them for me to politely leave. Malcolm, one of my friends and Annabeth's twin brother shows, up carrying a young boy on his hip. A woman, who I assume is his mom, follows with another young boy. Thalia stands to greet them.

"Erin, how are you?"

"Oh Thalia, hows my girl?" Erin wipes a tear from her eye.

Thalia takes the child from her. "Come here, Bobby. Annabeth is through those doors. Family only. Apparently, best friends aren't family."

Erin nods, "Thank you, Thalia." And she disappears through the doors.

As soon as Erin is gone, Thalia sets the toddler in my lap.

"What? Thals, you know I'm no good with kids." I protest.

"Better than me," she states simply.

"I'm an only child."

"And I'm the youngest."

"You've been to her house enough. You know these kids."

"Sucks to suck, Kelp Head." She unwraps a lollipop and pulls out her phone.

I have no idea what to do with this child on my lap. I must have looked confused because Malcolm starts to laugh.

"What?" I ask, feeling the blush creeping up my cheeks.

He stands, holding an identical toddler. "They won't break, you know."

"I know..." I falter, "I'm just not good with kids."

"It's not hard." He says. He sets the kid he's holding on the floor and takes Bobby from my lap and sets him on the floor too. He pulls out some blocks and starts helping the boys stack them. After a moment, I join them on the floor. I pick up one of the blocks awkwardly and watch one of them reach out and take it from me with a giggle.

"Is my sister going to be okay?" he says it without looking up at me at all.

The question is out of the blue and takes me from my thoughts. "I...uhh, yea I think so."

He slowly nods.

"You can... uh, go see her," I say, awkwardly, "My cousin and I can handle these two." I don't have to turn to see Thalia's scowl, but I can tell he really wants to check on his sister.

He hesitates and looks down at his brothers, "Are you sure? They shouldn't be fussy, just keep them occupied."

"Go." Suddenly, Thalia is on the floor next to me.

Malcolm nods and leaves. I sit there in amazement as Thalia keeps the boys so occupied they don't even notice that their brother left.

I nudge her playfully. "So, Pinecone Face is good with kids after all."

She gives me the evil eye and continues playing with Bobby and his brother.

After a few minutes, the doors fly back open and Malcolm approaches us quickly. "Annabeth is awake, and she's asking for you."

I am very confused. "Me?" But her brother and best friend are both here. I don't think I've ever said one word to her in the many years we've gone to school together. I give Will a questioning look. He shrugs and sits to comfort one of his brothers who was now crying due to lack of attention from Thalia.

I hesitantly make my way down the hallways until I get to Annabeth's room. She is sitting up in bed. Her curly hair was being loosely held back. Large glasses framed her face. She is still pretty pale. I go stand by her bed.

"How are you doing?"

She shrugs. "How would you be doing? I mean, I'm fine physically."

"That's good, at least." I'm not sure what to say. I look at Erin, she looks so frail and vulnerable. I look at the floor and put my hands in my pockets just for something to do with them. I am just about to say something to break the awkward silence when a crash echoes down the hallway. I can hear people running. Annabeth seizes up. She grips my arm and looks up at me in fear. Protectively, and almost instinctively, I put my arm around her.

The noise dies down, and she releases my hand. She shudders and mumbles "I hate hospitals."

Like me, this must not be her first time in one. I wonder what she's gone through. My arm stays protectively around her. _What are you doing?_ I chide myself, _you don't know this girl, she's probably so uncomfortable_. But Annabeth seems to relax at my touch.

Will walks in. He addresses Erin, "So, she is fine physically. We'd love to keep her here a few more days to see if there is any lingering mental issues, PTSD or similar."

Erin nods numbly. She's not in any state to be asking more questions.

"How's Luke?" I ask tentatively.

"Still in surgery. They think he'll live, but he won't be anybody's quarterback anymore."

"How long will the surgery last?"

"Only an hour more, if there are no unknown complications." He heads towards the door, and pauses, "And she probably shouldn't be left alone."

I watch the door swing shut behind him. I feel Shift in my arms and I look down at her.

"Luke? Who's Luke?" She asks, her voice shaky.

"Luke Castellan. The quarterback."

"And he..." her voice waivers, "he's the one who hit me?"

"Almost hit you." I correct.

"No. Not him."

"Do you know him?" I ask gently.

"Yea, he was like my brother. He-"

"He found her when she ran away from home." Malcolm's voice scared me. I didn't realize he was here. He pulled up a chair on the other side of Annabeth and took her hand. "Her and our dad used to fight a lot. One day it got so bad, she left. And she didn't come back. We were only seven. Luke had run away too. His mom can get crazy psycho at times. He found her and they stuck together. They stayed at Luke's house for a while until his mom had another episode, and Annabeth called home. It had been nearly a month." He pauses and takes a breath. Both look up at me to see how I'm talking the news.

I look down at Annabeth. "You were only seven? What kind of seven years old makes it on her own for a month."

She gives me a lopsided grin. "Well, I had Luke. He was like my big brother."

I curiously look at Malcolm. "Was?"

Annabeth flinched. Malcolm nodded and took a breath. "Freshman year, he was a sophomore, he brought Annie to the start of the school year party at the Stoll's. He got completely wasted. He started getting angry at her, as much as she tried to convince him that he was drunk, he was starting to get physical. I wasn't right there but some boys stepped in to stop him. He was verbally abusing her. Told her how he never cared for her anyway. To top it all of, vomited on her as she was trying to leave. So yea was."

I swallow nervously, shocked. "Wow. I did not know that."

Malcolm grimaces. "Well, everyone knows what happened to Luke that night, but no one gave him crap for it. He's just your average teenage boy I guess. But no one knows what it did to the victim of his abuse. No one saw how Annie reacted."

Annabeth shakes her head like she doesn't want to relive that night. Which meant it was probably pretty bad. Malcolm was right about one thing: no one gave Luke crap for that night. I was there, I saw it. But the next day he was back at school receiving high fives from his friends for being that drunk.

We sit in silence for a few minutes. Annabeth dozes off, still wrapped in my arms. Erin falls asleep in her chair. Malcolm looks over at her and smiles. He gestures for me to follow him. I gently lay Annabeth's head back and follow Malcolm into the hallway.

"It's late, you should head home."

"And what are you going to do? Sleep in waiting room chairs? What about your brothers?"

Malcolm grimaces, as if he had forgotten they were there.

"They need to get home and to bed. They're probably asleep on your cousin out there."

"I can drive them home, you stay here with your sister." I offer.

He thinks it over and nods slowly. "You take my mom's car with their car seats and drop them off. Franklin will be waiting. Then drive yourself and Thalia home."

"How will you get home?"

"Does your cousin drive? I'll take her keys and maybe take mom home in the morning. We'll swap back cars in the morning."

"Okay" I look back at Annabeth one more time. She is sleeping so peacefully, her curls perfectly framing her face. As if nothing went wrong.

Malcolm's face seems to harden. "She'll be fine here with me." There is an angry edge to his voice. Did I do something wrong? "Get the twins home safe." And with that he goes back into Annabeth's room, closing the door behind him.


	3. The Visit From Gabe

God to my goddess

Chapter 3

Percy's POV

After a long day at the hospital, Thalia ops to spend the night at my house. Even though we got home late, my step father, Gabe, still wasn't home yet, which was good for us.

My mom, Sally, was waiting for us and had just put in a batch of blue chocolate chip cookies.

"Hey, Aunt Sally." Thalia darts part my mom and grabs a cookie.

"Hello, Thalia," she calls over her shoulder. Then she gives me a warm hug. "How are you doing?"

"Trying not to think about it." I sigh and grab two cookies.

My mom nods and wipes her floury hands on her apron. "You know the girl, and the guy, that must make this whole thing easier."

I shake my head. "Barely, but I wish I didn't."

"No, I guess you're right. A teenage boy everyone idolizes, and a teenage girl you barely know, but still, somehow feel protective of. It must be awkward." She nudges me playfully.

I feel my cheeks go red. "Mom, the thought has never even crossed my mind."

She laughs, "sure, a teenage boy who thinks differently, with different things on their mind than that of the rest of the population."

"No, Aunt Sally, he is different." Thalia throws a blue cookie at me, "this one's even dumber."

"Hey!" I protest, "that's not fair."

"There's a reason we call you Kelp Head."

My mom laughs. Her voice is full of pure joy, a sound I haven't heard in a while. "So, Thalia, should I set up a bed for you in Percy's room, or would you rather the couch?"

"Gabe's having friends over tonight," I quietly remind my mom.

"Oh, I know that, but I still thought I'd give her the choice, in case you two were too old to sleep together anymore. Besides, Gabe will be in the kitchen."

Thalia shudders, "As much as the couch sounds tempting, I'd rather stick it out under the sea."

We all laugh. Years ago, Bianca dubbed my room "Under the sea" because of how messy it was and there is so much trash in the sea. It stuck with my mom who said I was just like my father and a child of the sea. Our laughter is quickly cut short by the door being thrown open. Gabe walks in, reeking of alcohol and barely able to stand.

"What the hell is this?" He screams at nothing in particular.

"Gabe," my mom starts gently.

"Don't start on me, dog." He grabs her by the arm and slaps her face. My vision glows red with anger.

"Don't touch her," I growl and yank my mom out of his grasp. She flies backward, right into Thalia's arms, who leads her into another room.

"Oh, you're gonna get it, boy." His voice is slurred, and I know he means every word. "First, some slut was here without my knowing, then your mom talks back to me. And you. I know you were at the hospital today. Talked to the police. If I find out you said anything. Anything at all." He is barely an inch from my face.

"I was there because I witnessed a car crash. Not that you would care." I spit.

"You good for nothing whoreson!" I know it's coming and I brace myself for impact as his palm collides with my cheek. I thank the gods that Thalia is not here to see this. "You don't do jack squat around here, so don't you dare act like you have any authority over me. you just disappear all day."

'How would you know if I'm here or not? You're gone the whole day too."

"Making money to support this _family._ " he says the word like it tastes like gasoline, "Which you'd better not be doing while you're gone. I make the money around here. I make the rules! Understood?" He curls his hand into a fist as if to punch me, but then his equally wasted poker buddies walk in and he quickly releases his grip on me. "Leave," he growls under his breath.

I join Thalia and my mom in my bedroom. My mom is passed out on my bed. Thalia sits by the door, tears streaming down her cheeks but with her normal angry spunk gleaming in her eye as she tightly grips a baseball bat. I sit down next to her with a sigh. she looks up at me and I know she can see the red handprint on my face. After a minute she speaks.

"I didn't realize it had gotten this bad."

I sigh again, "Only when he's drunk. Which is more and more frequent every day."

"But he still isn't pleasant when sober I'm guessing."

"Nope. Not even close."

I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and see that I have ten unread text messages, all from Malcolm. The latest one reads: "SOS Annie needs you at the hospital now"

I look at Thalia, "I have to go."

"Can I come?" She looks at my mom's sleeping form, "will she be okay?"

I nod, "Gabe'll pass out on the table once his friends leave. We'll go out the fire escape and lock my door."

A look of concern crosses my cousin's face. "Is this how it is every time you leave?"

I shrug, not wanting to lie to my cousin, but not wanting to tell her what really goes on. Even though her hair covers most of her face, I can see the horror in her eyes. I take a deep breath. "Thals, we'll talk about this later. We need to go."

It is silent at the hospital when we arrive, which is very strange, even though it is past midnight. Thalia and I practically run down the hallways towards Annabeth's room.

"Hey, Kelp Head, why you running so fast?" Thalia asks, a smirk on her face.

I don't even know. I feel so protective of this quiet girl from my English class who I've never spoken to before. The girl whose life I saved. It feels weird to think about it like that. "I just want to make sure she's okay. How about you run a little faster and go ask someone how Luke's surgery went?"

Her face goes bright red and she doesn't respond. We stop outside of Annabeth's room. I knock gently and then open the door. Annabeth is crying gently on Malcolm's shoulder while Erin looks paralyzed in the corner.

"Oh thank the gods you are here," Erin mumbles. Malcolm doesn't seem to share the same joy.

Thalia jumps into action and grabs Erin gently and leads her out into the hallway, saying, "let's take a break."

I give my cousin a look on her way out. Who is this nice, caring, people friendly person that has relaxed my dark, goth, evil cousin these last few days?

After the door shuts, I turn to Annabeth and Malcolm. "What happened?"

Malcolm starts to talk, but Annabeth cuts him off. "There was a crash and sound. And it was so close. I thought it was going to hit me. I was going to die." Her hand is outstretched towards me. I reach out and grab it and let her pull me closer.

"Hey, it's okay," I say, "Nothing is going to happen to you. Not with me here."

Again, Malcolm's face seems to harden, though I don't know why.

"I know, I was just so scared."

I look down and gently wipe the tears from her cheeks. "You should try and sleep, it's the middle of the night."

She nods and pulls me closer. "Stay."

I sit on the edge of the bed and gently stroke her hair. After a few minutes, her breathing becomes steady.

Malcolm looks up at me. "How are you so good with her?"

"I don't know," I say honestly, "I don't think it's what I'm doing so much as who I am."

He sits back in his chair, clearly frustrated. "Why can't I do that? Why is it so hard for her brother to help her?"

I think it might be best so to answer, so we sit in silence for a few more minutes. A question has been burning on my mind since the last time I was here. I look at Malcolm. "Annabeth said she hated hospitals, you guys have been here before?"

He nods. "Twice. Once when our mom died, we were only five. This was right before she ran away. And our freshman year, when Erin's pregnancy had complications and the boys had to go into surgery."

I look at the fragile girl sleeping in my lap, and I wonder how she is still strong.

"Why do you seem to know everyone here?"

I sigh dejectedly, I knew this would pop up, but I wasn't ready for it. I instinctively raise my hand to where he hit me, though I'm sure it' faded by now. "I'm here a lot. I always seem to be hurting myself."

He frowns, "I didn't realize swimming was such a dangerous sport."

"It's not," I say quickly, "I'm just clumsy." I pray he buys my story.

He goes back to thinking quietly. After a moment he looks at Annabeth. "How are we going to make this work, if she needs you?" The words feel very forced.

"I don't know, but I'm sure we can work something out."

"I hope so."

At some time past three Malcolm falls asleep. Thalia texts me to let me know that she got Erin asleep in the waiting room and is going to stay out there. I stay awake for the rest of the night. it's hard to believe that she just got admitted to the hospital less than twelve hours ago. I keep going back to what Malcolm said, If Annabeth really needs me to stay sane, how is anything going to work out? How long is this going to last? I'm not against it, I'm just suddenly so worried about her. She does not deserve this. While I don't know her well, I know who she is. She is the smart and rationally thinking one in her group of friends, most of whom are popular and dating my friends, yet quiet and shy. Her brother is the opposite. While he still does well in school and rarely joins some of our friends in detention, he knows how to have a good time. Both are typically found at parties, though Malcolm is more social and Annabeth is usually the designated driver.

A crash sounds through the hallways followed by a lot of yelling. Although it is far away, the silence makes it sound louder. Annabeth doesn't stir at all, but I still hug her tighter. I pray we can make this work.


	4. The Hospital Visit

God to my goddess

Chapter 4

Annabeth's POV

I check my phone to see if anyone has texted me in the last ten seconds. Of course, no one has. Bobby and Matthew are on the floor next to my bed playing with Malcolm and Percy. Thalia just left to go see how Luke is after surgery. Helen is at home showering and, as usual, I have no idea where Frederick is.

Matthew laughs from on the floor. I want to join them, but I can't bring myself to leave the bed. I've always admired his relationship with the twins. He's so good with them.

His phone buzzes. "Hey, Annie, I've got to go. Moms here to take the twins home." He gets up and kisses my head. He picks up Bobby and stands up Matthew to walk them out. He gives Percy a glance and leaves. He thinks I don't see what's going on between him and Percy. I see the glances, the glares. I hate it, but that's Malcolm.

Percy sits in one of the chairs along the wall, headphones in, eyes closed. I laugh a little thinking at how a few days ago I would've given everything to have him in my room with me. In a way, I did give everything. Percy and his cousin Jason, Thalia's brother, are considered the "hot ones" of the school. So saying that I have a crush on Percy means nothing. Everyone does. I look over at him. His messy black hair, closed sea green eyes, muscular, toned body. But that's all out the window now.

I can't believe that I am in this situation where I need him. Will came in earlier and explained it all. I have a combination of PTSD and Stress Response Syndrome. Which means that I will feel unsafe if he's not around. I will rely on his presence to mentally function correctly for a while. I hate it. I'm not used to relying on people. I'm strong and independent.

Percy took the punches and rolled with them. His face was unchanging when we were told this, maybe a little excited, though I can't fathom why. Doesn't the god of swimming have some better way to spend Christmas break?

There is a soft knock in the door, but the people who enter are anything but. First comes Piper the British style queen. Followed by Hazel, who I think is Percy's cousin, and very rich. The Drew, the Regina George of Goode: hot and mean.

Hazel moves to give her cousin a hug. Piper comes over and kisses my cheeks. "Darling, how are you?"

"I'm doing okay. I'm not physically hurt."

"That's good," Hazel says, coming to stand next to Piper.

Drew, who I know has a massive crush on Percy, sits next to him. I can tell he is trying to not roll his eyes as he takes his earbuds out.

"So, Percieeee, me 'n Piper are throwing a Christmas party on Christmas, will we see you there?" She is leaning very far into his personal space and twirling her hair.

I always get dragged to these things. Though I'm not much of a partier, Percy seems to be. He and Jason are always at any party. He looks at me, "uhhhhh."

"For me?" Drew begs, giving him the puppy dog eyes and pushing out her chest.

I nod a Percy. "Yeah, duh," He says.

Drew nods, satisfied. "Awesome. Will you come with me to go to the vending machine?"

With one last glance at me, he follows her out.

"O.M.G. How I'm the world did you end up with the hottest guy in school in your hospital room?" Piper squeals.

Hazel laughs, "Percy? Hot? No. But how did you get him here?"

I feel my cheeks go rest and I look down at my bed sheets. "He uhhhh kinda pulled me out in front of a crashing car."

"WHAT?" Piper and Hazel scream in unison.

Piper pulls up a chair and gets really close to my face. "Details. Now."

I laugh at her actions but launch into my story.

Hazel's mouth dropped open. "My cousin did what?"

"He did. But now I have this, I think he called it the Stress Response Syndrome, but basically, I don't feel mentally safe unless he's around."

"So, looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of my cousin," said Hazel suggestively.

"Only you, Annabeth, would score the hottest guy in school through a near-death experience," laughed Piper with a wink.

"We're not dating or anything," I protest, "and shouldn't you think Jason is the hottest guy in school?"

"Hmmmmm," she pretends to think, "maybe the best in bed."

I throw my pillow at her.

"Well, they are related, maybe Percy got some of his genes."

"Okay," I laugh, "this conversation is officially over."

"What conversation?" asks Drew, entering the room.

"Nothing," Hazel shrugs, "where's Percy?"

Drew grins, "he's taking care of something."

I roll my eyes. I know full well what she's implying, but I also know that she's lying. She can do nothing but annoy Percy. I have watched her fail for years.

"When are you getting discharged?" Hazel asks.

"Tomorrow. They say it's the protocol to keep trauma patients for at least four nights."

"And Percy will stay here with you?" Piper asks, batting her eyelashes totally innocently.

"Probably."

"Have fun with that." She kisses my cheeks and walks out. Hazel and Drew follow, neither of them seem too excited about Piper's suggestion.

I check my phone for texts, and find one from Percy: "Gone for food, will be back when girls are gone. Want anything?"

I can't help but grin.

Malcolm comes back over later that night, while Percy and I are eating cheeseburgers. "Hey, Big Bro! Want some of my fries?"

He kisses my forehead, which is how he has started greeting me recently. I rather like it. "Who is this and who have you done with my little Annie? Annie never shares her food. Ever." He grabs a few fries before I can respond.

"And what kind of twin is okay with being the second one born?" Percy pipes up.

"This one apparently." Malcolm shrugs, "She always has."

Percy shrugs and takes a large bite of his burger. I watch as some ketchup and mustard dribble down his chin. He quickly grabs a napkin to wipe it off. I don't really know why I'm staring. he still seems so distant, so perfect. He is like the model to everyone in the school with his perfectly toned body and handsome features according to all the girls. I guess it shocks me that the perfect looking boy has a perfect personality. Its never like that in any of the books I read. But I also never read about guys saving people from car wrecks and then being like their therapist or something.

I wonder if Percy is like this all the time. Everyone has a bad side, right? I've been at parties that he's been at, (not that he would miss a party) but I've never really seen him drink. I've never paid attention to. I don't think he fails his classes, or really gets too many detentions. Everyone has a breaking point, mine is apparently car crashes, and I wonder what his is.

"So," Malcolm starts, "Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. How do you want to do this?"

Percy shrugs. "I guess I should let you guys be a family. Maybe I'll go home and then pick you up for Drew's party the next day?" I notice he doesn't say anything about celebrating with his own family, just that my family should get the chance to celebrate.

Malcolm nods, I can tell he is planning something, he has that face on. "Maybe. Where's Thalia go?"

"She went home this morning."

"Okay. So, do you want to go home tonight? Come back until she gets discharged tomorrow?"

Percy shrugs, "I mean, I don't really care. It's not a big deal if I make it home or not. You could sleep in your own bed for once."

 _It's not a big deal? how is this not a big deal? it's family, isn't it?_ I wonder. Out loud I say, "He is right 'Com, You haven't gone home for more than a shower since the accident happened three days ago. You deserve a good nights sleep."

Malcolm smiles, "it's been a while since you called me 'Com."

I smile back, "It's been a while since you've acted like Commander Malcolm."

"How about I go home and shower and such, and then I'll trade with Commander over here for the night?" Percy suggests after a beat of silence.

I nog, but Malcolm looks less than thrilled. "I just don't wanna leave you here, Annie."

I shake my head. "I won't be alone. I will have Percy and a whole team of doctors and nurses ready if anything goes wrong.

He nods and doesn't say anything more, but I can tell he does not like the idea of Percy being here without him. He doe not like that Percy is being so helpful and cooperative and I'm not sure why.

I think Percy can sense the tension growing in the room because he says awkwardly, "So ima leave now."

"Bye" Malcolm and I say in unison.

After the door shuts, I turn to Malcolm. "Why don't you like him?"

"Percy? I like him," he hesitates, before continuing slowly, "He's a great guy, I just don't like seeing you like this."

" _This?_ He saved my life, Malcolm."

"But now you depend on him to function?" he throws his hands up in frustration and starts to pace. "Not my Annie. You are strong willed and hard working. You never depend on people. You managed to survive without an adult for a month. You never rely on me, and suddenly you rely on one of my distant friends you never talk to?"

I pause and take it all in. "So, you are jealous?"

"Frick yeah, I'm jealous. He already looks ready to throw the whole world away for you and he's known you for days, Annie. Days. I've known you your whole life, and you hate it when people feel that way. It took me years before you'd actually let me care about you. I'm trying to understand why he gets a free pass and I didn't."

"'Com, you've always been my big brother, but I learned from the start not to trust family. Not after Mom, not after Dad, and _not_ after Helen. But don't you think I hate this too? I hate relying on people. I am my own person and now I'm trapped here. But I want to get better and the fastest way to do that is with him. Don't you want what's best for me?"

He kneels down next to my bed and grabs my hands. "Of course I do, Annie, I just don't want to see my friend re-" he stops and chokes back a sob.

"No one will ever replace you, 'Com. Especially not one of your friends who I barely know."

A small smile comes across his face, "But you want to know, don't you?"

I go red. "Well, maybe if you had invited him over more, I would."

"Maybe if you hung out with his cousins more, you would."

I groan and throw my head back on the pillow. "How is this fair?"

"What?"

"You seem to know everything about me like I'm an open book. But you are like written in Greek. I can never tell what you are thinking."

"You could tell I didn't like Percy."

I sit up with a smile, "But who do you like?"

Now it's his turn to go red. "It's none of your business."

I nudge him playfully, "But my love life is your business?"

"Fine, fine, you win this one. But I don't like anyone currently."

I reach out and playfully hit him. "I'm not an idiot. I can tell when you are lying to me."

"I won't tell you who."

"Grade?"

"Senior."

"Hair color?"

"Blonde."

"One of my friends?"

He hesitates, "Kinda?"

"Selena?"

He hangs his head and mumbles in defeat. "Yeah."

I raise my fist in triumph and giggle, "Maybe I'll invite her over more."

He glares at me, "Maybe I'll hang with her brother more."

At his glance, I burst out laughing. Then he starts laughing and neither of us can contain it. Will walks by outside the door and gives us a weird look. This only makes us laugh harder. "Maybe."


	5. Chapter 5

God to my goddess

Chapter 5

Annabeth's POV

It is Christmas Day, but I just wasn't in the Christmas mood that I normally would have been. I came home from the hospital yesterday, and Malcolm let me sleep with him last night, something he would have never normally done.

For the rest of Christmas break, Percy will be spending the night at my house, in case the tremors come back. With how much my dad yells, they will come back. Since last night was Christmas Eve, Percy went home to celebrate with his family. He'll be here soon to take me and Malcolm to Drew's party.

Malcolm knocks on my doorframe. "Are you ready to go?"

I tear my eyes from the mirror and nod.

"Wow," he says, shocked, "you look really pretty."

I felt pretty. I had straightened my blonde hair and was wearing a long-sleeved, green Christmas shirt. I had on a short red skirt and a long, tank top-ish, white sweater. Black flats and a bit of makeup sealed the deal.

There's a knock at the door and I hear Matthew hurry to see who it is. "Tal-wa's 'ere!" He shouts.

She must've unlocked the door herself because I hear her say, "Yes, I am here, Matt-woo."

I rush downstairs, "Thalia! Percy!"

"Hey girl, don't you look cute," Thalia says with a wink.

"Thanks," I say, "you look..."

"I look fabulously me." She spins I'm a circle showing me the whole outfit. Black leggings and lace-up black army boots. A black fedora and a black leather jacket. A shirt that says 'hoe, hoe hoes' and lots of jingling bracelets.

"Ready to go?" Percy asks.

"Yea, Malcolm's upstairs."

Percy heads towards the stairs and Thalia and I head to the car.

"So, is there a reason you look so dressed up?" Thalia asks, suggestively.

I laugh and give her a push, but I can feel the blush creeping up my cheeks. "This is not the first party I've been dragged to."

"Okay sure."

We get in the car, the boys come out, and we all go to Drew's house. I don't ask, but I am curious as to how Percy knows where it is.

We walk in and Percy says, "Well, who wants a drink? I'm driving tonight."

"Me!" says Thalia eagerly.

"Me too," adds Malcolm.

"Why not?" I ask.

He leaves to go get beers and Piper and Hazel seem to appear out of nowhere.

"You did not show up at the biggest part of the year, with the hottest guy in school."

I cringe at her word choice, and I see Thalia and Malcolm do the same.

"I told you before, it's a mental thing. I need him."

Piper laughs, a bit tipsy already. "Okay hun, just don't let Drew know he's here with you."

"We're not here as dates," I protest.

"Riiiight," Thalia cuts in, "because you would never ever go on a date with my cousin."

"Why do you protest like it's the worst thing in the world, he's not hot, but my cousin isn't the worst guy ever," Hazel adds, also a bit tipsy.

"Because..." I falter, why didn't I want to be here as his date, "because he's probably going to sleep with someone tonight and I need a few of those." I point to the drink in Piper's hand.

"Believe it or not, my cousin is a virgin." Hazel takes a big drink from her cup.

"Which cousin?" Percy asks, handing me and Thalia a drink.

"All of them," laughs Thalia.

"Do you count your brother as your cousin?" Percy asks, with a gesture to Jason on the couch with a random girl on his lap.

Thalia rolls her eyes. "As if. Besides then all of my cousins wouldn't be virgins."

Piper narrows her eyes. "Your joking."

"Of course I am!" Thalia laughs, "Man, you should've seen the look on your face." As far as Piper is concerned, Jason is clean. But Thalia's told me about the times she'll wake up and see two people in Jason's bed.

"Pipes, don't you see a problem with... that?" I ask, gesturing to the girl on Jason's lap, who is now straddling him.

She shrugs, "I trust him."

"Okay," I say slowly. I don't really want to fight with her tonight, but some days I wonder if it's better for her to know what really goes on.

An awkward silence follows before Thalia exclaims, "Wow, Pipes, you must really need to lighten up if you didn't find my joke funny. Let's get you a refill. Or..." her voice lowers, "I've got some of the goods if you'd rather that."

"No thanks, I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate me getting high."

I stifle a laugh, knowing Thalia would never tell Piper that she stole the 'goods' from her brother.

Thalia grins mischievously, "Drunk it is! Let's go, Beauty Queen." She pulls a slightly protesting Piper into the crowd of people. Hazel follows muttering something about needing another drink.

Percy looks up at me. "Come on, let's go say 'hi' to people."

"You don't have to stay with me the whole night, I have friends here. I've been to parties before."

He shrugs, "May as well get to know each other better if we're going to be spending all this time together." He grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd. I protest softly, but it's all in vain. He's a lot stronger than me, with his toned arms from swimming workouts. He pulls me across the dance floor to where Nico, the Stoll brothers, and Drew are standing.

Nico and I have been partners in many group projects. He's very smart, and I think another one of Percy's cousins. Travis and Conner Stoll are the class clowns and are on the football team. And Drew is Drew. I've been friends with Drew since freshman year, and she's been trying to get in Percy's pants from the start. Several times, she has claimed success, but Thalia always rolls her eyes. I am not sure what to think. She has however done it with other guys, and tonight she dresses the part, showing off every inch of her "hot body". From the lump in Conner's pants, she's been succeeding.

"Heyyy Percieee." Drew strikes a sexy and somewhat drunken pose.

Percy gives her a nod and turns to talk to Nico. I turn to Drew. "Isn't the hostess supposed to stay sober?"

She laughs very loudly like she's asking for attention. "Oh Annabelle, I am."

I just nod and take her cup out of her hand. I hand it to Conner as I say, "Well, you look very nice tonight."

She laughs again, "Well, 'nice' wasn't what I was going for. I had something a little more fun in mind. You, however, look, 'nice'." She turns and we both look at Percy. "You didn't, by chance, come here with him? Did ya?"

I shake my head, remembering Pipers warning, "No, well, yes, technically speaking. He drove me here, but we're not here as dates."

She puts a hand over her heart and pretends to be relieved. "That's good to hear. I didn't want to interfere with anything you had going on, but like, I claimed him first. I wouldn't want to hurt you when I finally catch him alone tonight."

"Uh huh," I mutter, not really paying attention. I am more focused on Percy and his cousin. Nico is so small and skinny compared to Percys tall, muscular body. Nico, much like his cousin Thalia, is goth and emo and all that, but the two are on opposite ends of the spectrum. While Thals is outgoing and fashionable and evil, Nico is all around dark and quiet. It's strange to think that he and Thalia and Percy and Jason and Hazel and Bianca are all related. All of them have very different personalities. Hazel is the pretty, rich one. Nico is dark and shy. Bianca was my best friend in kindergarten and her death brought me and Thalia closer. Thalia is outgoing and crazy. Jason and Percy are the popular, party boys, and varsity athletes. Percy is the captain of the swim team, while Jason is one of the fastest runners on the track team.

I come back to reality and drunk Drew laughs a bit, "Are you suuuure that you're not crushing on Percy, you've been staring off into space at him for a while now?"

I shake my head and take a drink of whatever form of alcohol Percy gave me. "I'm good."

"Then I'm gonna go and make my move!" She strikes a sexy pose and starts to move towards Percy.

I grab her arm, and say, "Don't you wanna finish what you started with Conner?" I nod my head to where Conner and Travis are standing. Conner looking uncomfortable with his situation, and keeps shifting his weight. He looks over at Drew to see if she's coming. "You don't want him to finish on his own, do you?" I put as much contempt into my voice, knowing that she had been getting somewhere, and hates the idea of not being the one to finish.

"You know what, Annabelle, You are right. Percy will be around all night, Conner's boner won't." She leaves and sways her hips on her way over to Conner.

I go stand next to Percy. "Hey."

"Hey, Annabeth," Nico says, "How are you feeling?"

I assume Percy has told him what happened. "I'm feeling fine, glad to be here tonight."

"Yeah," he laughs. "A good party is always a good distraction." He says it with a slightly dark undertone, and I wonder what he's trying to forget about for the night.

Percy nods, "And, plus, Its Christmas! We _should_ be celebrating."

Nico laughs, "Some people certainly got that message.

I look around the party. I see Drew practically inhabiting the same space as Conner. Jason leads some girl down a hallway. Many people are dancing it up to the music being played.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. It's from Thalia, "SOS - backyard"

I look up at the boys, "I am going to go find Thalia, and see what her problem is." I head towards the backyard and see what the problem is. Thalia appears to have successfully gotten Piper drunk, as Piper is stripping for everyone up on a platform next to the large hot tub.

"SOS has arrived."

"What do we do about her?"

"We could get your brother to get her down, but I have a feeling he's not wanting to be disturbed right now," I say with a shrug.

"We could push her in," she suggests.

"Or not."

Thalia pulls some pills from a bag in her bra and downs them with a swig of beer. "I don't know, I kinda don't really want to stop her. This is entertaining."

I gesture to many waiting boys in the hot tub below Piper, "You are not the only one who finds this situation entertaining."

Before either of us decide to do anything, a larger boy makes his way to her.

"Uh oh," Thalia says without really caring. I can tell she wants to watch this play out. As much as I want to help my friend out of this embarrassing situation, I also want to see what happens.

The large boy, Frank, is now next to Piper next to the edge. He puts his hands on her waist and starts slowly running them up and down her sides. She throws them off her, "You pervert, I have a boyfriend."

He just laughs loudly, "That hasn't stopped me before," and with one hand he pushes her off the platform into the water. Cheers erupt from the boys in the water and the many spectators. Piper struggles to the edge where Thalia and I are waiting to pull her out. Thalia takes off her jacket and puts it around her shoulders and the two of us march her straight up to Drew's room. I am praying it's not currently occupied as I push open the door. Luckily, it's empty.

"That stupid son of Hera," Piper mumbles as she sits on the bed, shivering from being all wet.

"More like the son of Ares. Have you seen the size of that boy?" Thalia laughs a little.

"How drunk are you, Pipes?" I ask as I go through Drew's closet, looking for something for Piper to change into.

"She only had three beers," Thalia says.

"What the chance someone made her drink a little stronger?" I ask, not looking up at my friend.

Thalia thinks, "If anyone, it was probably Frank. He's been all over her and Hazel tonight, though I would've figured he was after Hazel."

"Jerk just wanted a laugh." I throw a shirt and leggings at Piper and she slowly and numbly puts them on. She stands as if to rejoin the party with us, but she sways on the spot. Suddenly she turns green and vomits into the trash can a waiting Thalia is holding out. "Back to bed with you." We lay her in Drew's bed and leave, locking the door behind us so that she receives no unexpected guests.

"How wasted do you think Malcolm is?" Thalia asks as we walk down the hallway, back towards the party.

"I don't know. So long as he is not dirty dancing with a few girls on the dance floor, I'm good."

"Me too." I give my best friend a strange look but she shrugs it off. "And we need a few more beers."

She grabs my hand and drags me to the kitchen, where we sit for a while and drink. Thalia starts asking for stronger stuff and the boys behind the bar gladly oblige. I'm not against it either. With everything that has happened these past few days, I sure need it. From our spot, we have a perfect view of the living room. As it turns out, Malcolm is getting a little up close and personal with Selena. I giggle a bit remembering our conversation at the hospital. I'm not positive, but I think this makes Thalia drink a bit more. I also see Percy having fun dancing with Reyna, a girl from our neighboring school where Hazel and Frank go to. Reyna seems a bit tipsy. Percy is just having a bit of casual fun, while she keeps getting closer and closer. I'm not positive but I think this makes me drink more. I start to lose track of just how long Thalia and I have been sitting. I know enough to know I am far past tipsy at this point.

"Woah, Annabelle, I don't think I've ever seen you drink this much." Hazel jerks me out of whatever dreamland I'd been in.

"I just really needed this party."

Travis comes over and takes the cup from my hand. "You, Missy, have been sitting for far too long. You are supposed to be having fun."

He pulls me on to the dance floor. I am not a good dancer, and that is suddenly hilarious. He starts to spin me and dance me ballroom style. _Wow_ , I think, _He is really really good on his feet. Is he this good everywhere?_ I don't know what I'm doing but I do know that I am having fun. So much fun. And I can tell that Travis likes it too. He likes it when I spin and my skirt flies up. He likes it when my chest is close to his face. He can't hide his happiness and I reach out and giggle as my fingers lightly brush the lump in his pants. He pulls me closer and lets out a soft moan in my ear. I giggle some more. _Isn't this hilarious? A hot guy is so turned on by me. He thinks I'm funny. I'm making him happy._ I lean my head on his shoulder as I dissolve into laughter. He is holding me up at this point and one of his hands travels to my butt to help support me. I lean into his touch. I let my and lightly touch the ever growing bulge again, resulting in more hot moans. I fall into a fit of giggles. I open my eyes as his other hand does wonderful things to my boob. I see Percy spin Reyna onto a couch and walk over to Malcolm and Selena. I close my eyes again and dissolve once more into Travis's expert touch. He is making me feel things I have never felt before.

Suddenly I am thrust from Travis. I feel the grip of two strong men holding me very tightly. I open my eyes to see my brother and Percy.

"Go Find Thalia, I'll start the car." Percy orders. He is very hot when giving commands, how have I never noticed this before? The thought makes me burst into giggles again. Percy starts to march us to the car.

"But Peeercy," I whine, "He was making me happy."

"Okay," He says gently as we make our way onto the street, "Let's get you home."

I reach out and touch the non-existent bulge in Percy's pants. 'Maybe you could continue for me?" He stops walking and looks down at me. He opens his mouth to say something and then closes it again. I notice his eyes harden and he tightens his grip on me. He continues walking me towards the car. I get in the passenger side and continue trying to play with Percy. I just need someone to help me. He turns into stone, staring straight ahead.

Malcolm throws a giggling Thalia into the back seat and climbs in after her. He looks at Percy, "Can Thalia hold her liquor?"

"She won't puke until tomorrow. But her flat is all the way across town. I'll drop you two off first if that's okay. are your parents cool with her coming home hammered?"

 _He's not going to leave, is he?_ I lean across the divider, "You'll come back to me, right?"

Percy looks in his mirror at Malcolm and gives him a questioning look. _Awwe, how sweet. He's asking my brother's permission._ Malcolm reaches in front of him and pulls me back into my seat. "He'll be back, but you won't see him until you wake up. And to answer your question, Frederick won't care in the least, and Erin will hopefully be asleep. But Annie has never been this wasted. I don't know how well she can keep it down."

Percy pulls into my driveway, and Malcolm helps me out of the car. With all my weight on my brother, the sudden movement becomes too much and I vomit all down his shirt. I immediately burst into laughter at how funny my brother looked. But even that was too much and I collapse on to his shoulder. The last thing I hear is the car driving away. The world fades to black.


	6. The Cousin's Party

God to my goddess

Chapter 6

Percy's POV

I wake up the next morning on the floor of Malcolm's room. He's not awake yet, but I can hear someone downstairs moving.

I get up and peak in Annabeth's room. She is sleeping peacefully now, but I can see vomit all over the bed. I flash back to everything that happened last night. Once Annabeth left to go help Thalia, I didn't see her again. Nico went to go say hi to Will, who had just gotten off work. I made my way to where one of my good friends, Charlie was standing on the side of the dance floor. His mouth was agape as he watched Selena dance with a grin of pure goofy joy on her face. I noticed that she was dancing with Malcolm, who I know had more than enough to drink last night.

He shook his head. "I need something stronger." He set down his beer and left.

One of my friends from Goode's neighboring school, Reyna made her way over to me. She got real close, and I knew she was trying to turn me on. She's done it before, though we never went anywhere with it, but last night I wasn't in the mood. I was, however, in the mood to have fun so I pulled her onto the dance floor. I remembered how much of a good dancer she was and I was having a blast when I noticed a couple getting too close. Travis and...ANNABETH? I pushed my way to Malcolm, knowing he would hate what Travis was doing to his sister. Together we wrenched the two apart and I saw what harm had been done. 1) Annabeth was way beyond drunk. 2) Travis was incredibly turned on. 3) Annabeth probably was too.

I told Malcolm to go find Thalia and started dragging Annabeth towards the car. As angry as this made me, I was trying my best to remain calm and gentle. The last thing Annabeth needed right then was to go into a panic and think I was mad at her. Luckily she was slap happy due to the alcohol.

"Peeeercy," she whines, "I was having fun and you interrurpprupruoed me."

Then she does something I didn't expect, I never would have ever expected from sweet, little, innocent, know-it-all Annabeth. She reached for me. I stopped walking. She was going all out, stroking me through my clothes, getting the rest of her hot body up in my face. I won't lie, it felt good. Like really really awesome.

She leaned into my ear, very sexily and whispered, "Maybe you could finish for me."

But it also felt wrong. I pinned her hands to her sides and pushed her in the car.

After I dropped Thalia off I had pulled my car into a vacant parking lot. I nearly cried. I sat there for almost an hour in numb silence before heading back to the Chase residence.

Malcolm puts a hand on my shoulder, jerking me back to reality. He leans in and whispers, so as not to be heard by the rest of the house, "As soon as she wakes up, get her in the shower. I'll clean her bed sheets. Erin knows we are normal teenagers, but she tries to see the light in us. Annie and I didn't drink last night. You didn't because you drove. Thalia got wasted and that's why you brought her to her house instead of here. Thalia puked all over Annabeth which is why she was crying last night."

I nod, "What about the smell of alcohol?"

"Febreze. Does your mom know you drink?"

I nod. "We don't talk about it, but I'm sure she does. I'm not as bad as my stepfather so I guess I look clean to her. I never come home that wasted before."

Malcolm nods. "Neither of us are heavy drinkers usually either. Thanks for stopping her and Travis." WIthout looking back at me, he walks back into his room and I hear the Febreze bottle going. Annabeth starts to stir and I cross the room to her, ignoring the putrid smell from the dried puke. For coming off as such a neat and orderly person, her room is a ginormous mess.

"Annabeth," I say, gently shaking her, "Good morning, Sunshine."

She sits up and then lays back down with a groan. "I fell like I just walked through Tartarus." Her hair is a giant mess and completely knotted. She managed to take off her shirt before passing out and is now just wearing a bra and shorts. Her face is paler than when I first saw her in the hospital, and when she sits up, I can see her head swimming. She is swaying a ton. I stand her up, but I don't think you could call what she was doing standing. She was laying upright and limper than a rag doll. Luckily, she was pretty small and I was able to carry her to the bathroom. I turn the water on warm and she climbs in, bra and all.

Every year, on the day after Christmas, all of my cousins go out for an afternoon. We never meet too early in the morning to give people a chance to get over their hangovers from the night before. It's always just been the cousins, but with everything that has happened recently, we decided to let Annabeth come along. It works out fine because she knows most of them anyways.

We get in the car and head to Central Park. Thalia and Jason are already there. Thalia immediately grabs Annabeth. "Girl, you got so wasted last night."

Annabeth flinches from the sudden movement. "I guess so, yeah."

"You were too, Thals." I remind my cousin, "And you, J."

"Excuse you," Jason does his best drag queen impression, "I was high, thank you very much."

"Higher than the Empire State." Thalia mumbles.

"Why are we at Central Park in the middle of winter?" Annabeth asks

I shrug, "Blame it on Nico."

"That's right," says a new voice behind me. I turn, only to get pelted in the face with a snowball.

I fling the snow from my eyes to see Nico and Hazel standing there smirking with their arms full of more ammunition. "Oh, you are going to get it," I growl.

"Bet," he lightly jokes. And then the war begins. We all run for cover, and after catching my breath behind some bushes, I realize that Thalia is not with us anymore. That traitor sided with Nico and Hazel. It turns into a blood bath, and two hours later there is still no clear victor. We all collapse in a pile of sweat and snow. A long time ago, we had all lost most of our outer layers and the clothes still on were drenched in sweat. After sitting in silence, too tired to speak, Thalia pipes up, "So, who wants to see a movie?"

After a few more minutes, we haul ourselves up and traipse to Hazel's car. She has the only car big enough to hold all of us, plus, she has a driver and we can chill in the back. After a few minutes, we all have our strength back and are arguing over what movie to see.

We all go back to Jason and Thalia's place after the movie. They have lived alone together for a few years since their mom died and we always do the gift exchange there. The rest of up collapse on the couches while Jason goes to get us drinks. "Do we want wine, beer or juice?"

Thalia and I asked for wine while everyone else had orange or apple juice. Jason got a beer.

"Who wants to go first?"

"Me," Hazel says, "I got gifts for Thalia and Nico." Everyone gets two other people gifts and everyone receives two gifts. Hazel pulls out two identical packages and hands them to her brother and cousin. Jason and I hoot and holler when they unwrap matching dark makeup kits.

Jason snatches one from his sister's hands. "'Complete with waterproof eyeliner and all new opaque lipstick.' Wow. These are just so perfect for you two. If you weren't related, I'd ship it."

Thalia goes bright red and snatches her kit back from her brother. "Just you wait, big Bro." She pulls out a gift from behind her back and hands it to her brother. He unwraps a pair of handcuffs. "Perfect for next time I'd rather be out of the house."

"How was the trip to the sex store to buy them?" Hazel asks with a wink. After a moment of extreme laughter, she adds, "Thals made me drive all the way out to the mall just to go in with her."

Thalia glows an even brighter red. Much to her dismay, Jason does not appear to be embarrassed in the slightest. He winks at her and says, "Thanks, Sis. Maybe Piper will finally give in now."

"Finally?" Annabeth asks timidly from her spot next to me.

"She's all about chastity and stuff, which is cool, but I would love it if she were to take a leap of faith with me." He shrugs as if it were no big deal.

"Annie, it's your turn!" Thalia exclaims. She plops a large box in front of Annabeth. Inside were a fuzzy bathrobe and some hot chocolate mix.

Annabeth laughs. She holds up the robe and we can see that it is black with constellations on it. "Perfect for days I don't want to leave the house."

I smirk. She sees the look on my face. "What?"

"All you need now are some books to go with it and you are all set." I pull a box from under the couch. She flushes red and turns her head away from all of us.

Nico whistles, "Dang man, that was smooth." Causing lots of laughter and Annabeth to go a brighter shade of scarlet. She opens the box and finds several books that I'd gotten her with help from Malcolm and Thalia. I also included two mugs she can use for the hot chocolate. She barely looks up at me, but I can see the grin on her face.

"It's your turn to give your gifts," I gently encourage her. We all kinda gave her a pass and let her give gifts to me and Thalia since she knows us best. She gave Thalia a very intricately wrapped gift box that is filled with small key chains, bracelets, and a ton of one dollar bills. _Fitting_ I think with a laugh.

Nico whistles again, "Where's you get the bucks in that large amount. Do you have a side job none of us know about?" I reach out and playfully hit my cousin, but I pray that he gets my underlying message: _Stop it now. Leave her alone._ A swift nod confirms that he knows exactly what I meant. Annabeth hands me a small bag. Inside is a new pair of goggles for me to use while swimming. Upon further inspection, I see that they are a really really nice pair.

"Thanks." I can't hide my embarrassment, she spent a lot of money on me. Now I give Hazel my gift from me. I got her some nice earrings that she will be able to wear one she gets her ears pierced, a Christmas gift from her father. Nico gives Hazel a new notebook and some fancy colorful pens. He gives Jason a giant chocolate bar. Jason gives Nico a pair of boots and he gives me a video game that I've wanted for so long.

After we get the gift exchange cleaned up, we sit and play board games like a bunch of hyper children. We all get a huge blast out of it. It's close to midnight by the time we leave. Annabeth sits passenger seat to me and looks like she might pass out any second.

"Are you ready to go back to school tomorrow?"

She groans, "Absolutely not. I don't wanna have to deal with people."

I chuckle a bit, "But you won't do it alone. I'll be there."

"Officially?"

"Well, we have a meeting with the President of Goode and the scheduler before classes tomorrow, but then yeah."

"So, we'll have all classes together?"

"Most," I correct her gently, "You're in some higher level classes that I probably won't switch to, and like I'm not going to take Architecture, but for the most part, I will be there with you. If I'm not, Malcolm will be."

She nods, already half asleep. I pull up to my house to grab some clothes for school tomorrow. Gabe's car is not in the driveway so I use the front entrance. I knock softly, but no one answers. I unlock the door and don't see anyone at first. I check my mom's bedroom and find it empty. MY heart begins to race. I check the kitchen and the living room with no result. I head to my room to grab the clothes quickly and get out of there when I see her. She is asleep on my bed. On top of the covers and clutching the blue teddy bear that my dad gave me when I was born. I tuck her in gently and write her a note telling her that I was here. I lock my bedroom door after me on my way out so hopefully, Gabe will leave her alone if he even comes home tonight. I get back in the car and drive Annabeth home.


	7. Back to School

God to my goddess

Chapter 7

Annabeth's POV

I wake to Erin gently shaking my bed. "First day back!" She softly sing-songs.

"I don't wanna," I grumble and pull the covers further over my head.

"I made pancakes?"

I sigh in defeat. "I'll be down in a minute." She leaves and I enjoy my last few minutes of silence for the day. I hear Malcolm wake up Percy, who apparently is not a morning person. A moment later the shower starts running. I never understood how people could shower in the mornings. I'm a morning person but that doesn't mean I want to wake up an hour earlier to shower. I roll out of bed and get dressed. I put on leggings, a sweatshirt, and winter boots and then follow the yummy smell coming from downstairs.

My mouth dropped open. When Erin had said "pancakes" what she really meant was "all you can eat royal buffet." The table was overflowing with pancakes, waffles, cereal, yogurt and toppings, biscuits and gravy, and about a million different types of fruit.

Erin smiles at me. "I want your first day back to be amazing." I know what's she's trying to do, and frankly, it's working. She knows I've never liked her very much. When my mom died, I felt hopeless. And just four years later, She came into my life. At the time I was angry because Dad was replacing Mom. I didn't want a new mom, and I didn't want him to act like Mom was replaceable. I hated Erin with all my guts. It didn't help that Malcolm was the golden child. Then, when she and Dad were fighting a lot, I didn't hide my hope that she'd be gone. Of course, she got pregnant instead which seals the deal with my dad. I think she had hoped that the two of us could bond over having a child to take care of, but Malcolm turned out to be the babysitter of the family. She does a lot of trying to be more likable. She gave me my space and let me and Malcolm go to parties. And I will admit, she has grown on me a bit not that I'm seventeen and am more mature.

"Thanks," I say quietly.

As usual, there is no more than a beat of silence before it is broken. One of the twins upstairs starts crying and Erin sighs dramatically. She wipes her hands on her apron and goes around me and up the stairs.

I grab a plate and start to grab some breakfast. I don't normally eat a lot for breakfast but recently, Erin has been forcing me to eat something before school.

Percy comes downstairs, clearly still asleep.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," His voice is slightly slurred, "Wow, this is breakfast."

"Erin can be a little extra sometimes, even though I'm not a big breakfast eater."

"Me neither," He yawns and stretches and I chide myself for noticing that I can see his abs when he does that, "It depends if I have practice that morning or if my mom's around to make me eat."

I giggle softly and hand him a plate. A few minutes later Malcolm bounds down the stairs, his hair still wet from the shower. of the two of us, Malcolm is definitely the morning person, but he can also somehow stay up to all hours of the night and still have energy in the morning. I'm the opposite. I can't stay awake super late, but while I don't like waking up, I don't hate it either. This is why Malcolm normally drives to school in the morning.

Erin comes back down with Matthew in one hand and a camera in the other. "Smile!" We all put on our best grin and the camera flashes several times. The camera continues flashing as we get ready to go, to the point where we are going to be late.

Malcolm drives and I sit shotgun. We dance along to the music playing, but I am having a hard time ignoring the growing knot in my stomach. What is everyone going to think? The school doesn't even know yet. Percy and I have a meeting with the administration this morning before first bell, and hopefully, we can get everything worked out.

We get out of the car and start walking towards the building. Malcolm gives me a hug, "Good luck, Annie."

"Thanks, 'Com. I'll see you after school." He gives Percy a nod and heads off to find his friends.

I take a deep breath a look up at Percy. A growing ball of fear is eating away at my stomach. Percy's sea green eyes meet mine and I feel as though he can see right through me. "Nervous?"

I nod, "What if they don't do anything to help us? What if I have to go through this along?"

He grabs my hands and stops me from walking. "What if this goes right and exactly as we planned?"

I can't hold back a sob, "But then what will everyone else think? How are people going to react?"

"Hey, hey, hey," He pulls me into a hug, "It will all work out. This is high school, people are going to judge. But people are jerks and your friends won't think badly of you for this."

I look up at him and I notice how much taller than me he is. He gently wipes the tears from my eyes. "What about you?" I ask, "Isn't your reputation at school going to be ruined because you are hanging out with me?"

He shrugs, "Jason won't care so I doubt anything will really happen. Besides, it's not like it matters. I'll still be the captain of the swim team, and I'll still have my friends." He looks down and once again I look right up at his gorgeous sea green eyes. "Besides, you're worth it."

I smile and straighten my self out. He takes his arms from around me and we make our way to the front office. Within five minutes we are sitting down with Ms. Redmond, the principle, Mr. Chiron, the vice-principle, and Mrs. Dare, the scheduler.

Ms. Redmond looks at us. "So, I received your email, Mr. Jackson, but it was rather vague. I gather that something very traumatic happened to the two of you and now we have a very special case of Stress Response Syndrome?"

"Yes. Over break, Annabeth was nearly hit with a car. She is fine physically, but not mentally."

"I feel unsafe if Percy is not around to make sure nothing happens to me." I cut in, "Anything from a loud crash to being cold can trigger this and Percy is the only one who can calm me down."

"So what happens when this is triggered?" Ms. Redmond asks.

"I panic, I seize up, I cry."

"And Percy is the only one who can help?" Mr. Chiron asks.

Percy and I nod in unison. "My brother, Malcolm, can help a little."

"So what do you want from us?"

Percy sits up a little in his chair and says, "We would like to be in as many of the same classes as possible, and to be given permission to leave the class if she panics."

Mrs. Dare sits forward. "How do you expect to make this work if you two are in such different classes? For example, Ms. Chase is in calculous and Mr. Jackson is in Algebra II."

"I'll switch," Percy says simply.

I quickly explain, "He'll switch to my classes for most of them since we'll be together a lot, I'll help him study. For Calculus and Architecture, Malcolm is in those classes with me and he'll help or notify Percy if anything happens."

"And Mr. Jackson, what classes will you be in when not with Annabeth?" Mrs. Dare asks.

"I will be in algebra and then her architecture class is at the end of the day, and I normally don't have class last period and go start swimming before practice."

Mr. Chiron sits forward from is relaxed position, "Sounds like y'all have this worked out."

"And you two will work hard to stay on top of classes?" Ms. Redmond clarifies, "Because I would hate to see either of you fall behind in classes as that would result in you, Mr. Jackson being kicked from the swimming team and it would be a huge shame to see your grades drop, Ms. Chase, since you are such a great student."

Percy and I nod. "We will," I say.

"Then, Mrs. Dare, you should get to work on their schedules since there is only half an hour before first bell. I will send an email out to all of their teaches telling them what is going on and that they should be expecting an updated schedule for these two shortly." Mrs. Dare hurries out of the room. "And the rest of us need to figure out some logistics, such as where will you two go if you even need to leave class?"

"They could use my office," Mr. Chiron says with his chair on the back two legs and his feet up on another char, "I have that little side room that no one ever goes into."

Ms. Redmond thinks it over and nods. "I think that will work. I trust that the two of you will only do what you need and not abuse this privilege. Talk to Mr. Chiron about the logistics of what goes on in his office." She gathers up her papers and leaves.

Mr. Chiron sets his chair back and stands up. "Thank you for coming today. I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."

"Thank you," I say politely. Percy and I head into the hallway.

I breathe a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall of lockers.

"You okay?" Percy asks.

"I think so. I just...wow, okay. So that went well." I shake my head and stood up straight.

Percy pulls out his phone. "Well, that was fast. Mrs. Dare already sent us our schedules. We have English first."

Thalia and Jason walk over. Well, Jason walks over. Thalia bounds over and comes up behind me. She throws her arms around me.

"Hey Thals," I laugh, "Where did you get all this energy?"

She smiles mischievously, "The sun god himself."

"Okay," I laugh.

Thalia reaches and pulls out her phone with her arms still around me. "What class do you have first?"

"English"

"Same!" She laughs.

Malcolm walks over to us and he chuckles slightly at the sight of Thalia draped all over me. "How are you doing, Annie? Did you get what you needed?"

"Yeah, we did. Exactly as we'd discussed."

He smiles and I realize I'd forgotten how warm his smile is. "That's good. I'm glad."

I smile right back and look into his bright blue eyes. "Thanks 'Com."

"You're welcome, Annie." He turns to talk to Jason and Percy.

"When did Malcolm get so hot?" Thalia whispers in my ear.

"Thals!" I whisper-shout at her, "You're not serious, are you?"

She shrugs and the two of us burst into a fit of giggles. Malcolm and Percy turn around and give us a questioning look which only makes us laugh harder. Jason, however, is to engrossed in Piper's mouth to notice me and Thalia. Hazel and Drew stand off to the side awkwardly.

The bell rings after what feels like an eternity and Jason and Piper finally break apart. Travis and Conner Stoll walk by and holler in unison, "Get a room!'

Jason responds by pushing Piper up against the lockers and kisses her very aggressively for a minute.

Percy, Thalia and I walk to English and find seats. Percy and Thalia normally sit in the back, but I always sit up front. We sit together in the middle today. The teacher, Mr. Blowfis comes right up to me and Percy.

"I got the email about your situation, I just want you to do what you need to do. Don't let my class stress you out. Leave if you need to and what not. I'm not worried about you making up the work."

"Thank you, Mr. Blowfis," I say and he heads back to the front of the classroom to start class back up. I turn to Percy and Thalia. "He's such a cool teacher."

Percy nods, "He works for the editing company my mom uses to publish her books."

"Your mom writes?" I ask, surprised.

He nods again, "When she's not cleaning, she's writing or cooking."

"She sounds busy," I comment.

"She's wonderful," Thalia cuts in, "and her cookies are amazing."

"Cool." Now I'm curious, "What does your dad do?"

Percy scowls and I wonder if I've done something wrong. I look over at Thalia for an explanation. "His step "dad" gambles. He all around sucks."

"Oh."

"Don't worry about it." Percy shift in his seat. "What do your parents do?"

"My dad is a history professor and Erin doesn't work. She stays home with the twins."

"Your dad had two sets of twins?" Percy asks.

"Yeah."

After an awkward beat of silence, Thalia says, "Well my parents have been MIA for almost three years now." she says it with such a light tone that we all laugh. As Mr. Blowfis starts to call attendance I start to think. _It's really sad that their family has such awful lives. Thalia and Jason have been living out of a cheap flat for more than two years since their mother went off in pursuit of a drink and never made it home one night and their dad failed to pull out twice as a teen. I know Nico's dad has had more than a few wives and Percy holds himself so high, you would think that his parents treat him like a god. But it seems that his mom is never around to love him and his stepfather is out spending all their money. I wonder who his father is._

"This semester in English we are going to be doing something a little different. We have two big topics to cover: Polls and Mythology. We will start with polls. We will cover everything from prediction quizzes to studies done for magazines. And since you all are highschoolers, I picked a semi-relevant topic: Dating. You will find lots of online surveys and quizzes and turn in a project of sorts about how well these accurately describe you. Oh, and this will be a partner project. Because we are talking about dating, you will be paired with each other boy/girl, unless you are currently dating a member of the same sex in this class. You can pick your partners and I recommend that anyone currently dating should work together. This will be a two-month project so we are going to jump right into it."

I look over at Thalia and laugh. She is looking around the room at all eligible males and shaking her head. "Why did I have to be in this period."

"There really is no one good to work with in this class." I look around. Apart from Percy next to me, the only somewhat decent guys were Charlie B. and Michael. Michael is openly gay so he'll be working with Christopher. And Valentina is already all over Charlie. Because I know that Thalia won't want to work with her cousin, I turn to Percy. "Partners?"

He gives me a goofy grin. "Okay."

We spend the rest of the class period taking silly BuzzFeed quizzes about if our 'marriage' would fall apart or not, or what type of wedding dress I should wear. Thalia ends up working with Clovis, the quiet sweet kid who always sleeps through class. They get along pretty well. The class period seems to end pretty quickly. Percy and I grab our stuff and say goodbye to Thalia. We head to history class. The rest of the day goes by without a hitch. I survive all my classes and this semester is starting to look up. Percy and I have gotten past the awkward stage of spending so much time together. He spends every night on an air mattress in Malcolm's room and occasionally in my room with me. Surprisingly, we don't do a lot of just talking and I don't know him very well. I don't know a lot about him. He is so protective of me and makes me feel safe.

He's also barely gone home since the accident. I look up from my book at the pool. I see Percy standing next to the pool instructing several freshmen. He's the captain of the swim team as a junior, which is rare. Though he's currently still wearing a shirt, his very muscular arms are visible. The freshmen line up to go do whatever they were instructed and Percy looks up at me. He sees me staring and smiles. I smile back. Is there anything more than friendship and protection that I want from this boy? I shake my head to dismiss the thought and turn back to my book.


	8. The basketball Game

God to my goddess

Chapter 8

Annabeth's POV

"Absolutely not."

"What?" I ask in defeat. I look at myself in the mirror. I'm just wearing black leggings and my favorite Goode sweatshirt. "It's just a basketball game, I don't have to look good."

"Well, you're not going in that. Have you no sense of fashion? You wear that sweatshirt so often the once blue is now grey."

"But I like this sweatshirt," I protest to no avail. Thalia already has her head back in my closet. She pulls out black skinny jeans and a tight pink tank top. She throws the jeans at me.

"Put these on," I grumble slightly but obey. Thalia shrugs off her leather jacket and tosses it on my unmade bed. The floor at this point was littered with my entire closet. She trades her black tank top for the hot pink one. I put on the jeans but they just look weird with my sweatshirt. Thalia reaches under my desk into a bag from a designer store full of clothes Piper make me try on and then told me how good I looked in them that I never intended to fishes through the bag until she came upon a pale pink oversized sweater which she promptly threw at me. My sweatshirt joins the growing pile of rejects on the floor.

"Do you have any batteries?" Malcolm asks from the doorway, "my controller ran ou-" His voice falls as he looks up and sees who he's actually talking to, his sister not wearing any shirt and her best friend in leggings and a revealing tank top. Though I would never let my brother see me indecent, we are close enough that I don't care. Thalia seems pretty chill about it also, but she is at least somewhat decent. He clears his throat. "So, um. Batteries?"

I fish around in one of the drawers on my desk and toss him two. "You out?"

He nods and leaves, shutting the door behind him. I stare at the closed door in confusion. Malcolm loves to see how mechanical things work and build with them. He always has a gazillion batteries littering his room.

Thalia raises her eyebrows. "You waiting for Percy to walk in and see you naked as well?"

I quickly put the sweater on, but the blush creeping up my cheeks does not go unnoticed by my best friend. "I feel overdressed."

"Nonsense, you look cute."

An hour later we are pulling into the Goode parking lot. most of the snow that had been on the ground from the recent storms had melted but it was still below freezing out. I shudder, wishing I had my sweatshirt with me.

A car pulls up and Hazel and some of her friends get out. I don't recognize these people, so I assume that they go to the school Hazel transferred from. The school Reyna and Frank go to. The school we are playing tonight.

Percy says hello to some of his friends who I don't recognize. Selena comes over and starts to talk to Malcolm. At this Thalia drags me to chat with the cheerleaders. Piper, the cheer captain, bounces over to us. Her uniform shows too much cleavage and her skirt is much too short. "Hey, Thals, Annie. Where's Jason?"

Thalia shrugs, "He told me he would be here. I didn't come here with him though."

As if on cue, Jason walks up, already with a drink in his hand. "Hey, babe." He gives his girlfriend a side hug. She goes on her tiptoes to give her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek. Thalia pretends to throw up next to me.

"Pipes," Selena, also on the cheerleading team, calls, "We've got to start."

Piper kisses my cheek and runs back to her team. Someone hands her a megaphone as Thalia and I find our way to where the boys are sitting.

The game progresses like any basketball game. The Spartans start out dominating us, but right before halftime, we make a big push and we go into halftime with a tied game. Piper grabs her megaphone again and starts shouting. Most of the Goode student section is on their feet already. Piper shouts, "GOOD EVENING GOODE! NOW, DID WE COME HERE TO LOSE? I DON'T THINK SO. SO LET'S SHOW SOME SPIRIT."

Everyone starts jumping and clapping and stomping on the bleachers. My breathing slows, I freeze up. _Seriously?_ I think, _Is this really going to happen here? Now? No, I'm fine._ But I can't ignore the voice in the back of my head as it gets louder and louder with the screaming crowd. _Remember when you were crossing the street and died? There was no sound then. Not until after the car hit. The screaming was your own._ My breathing quickens and I start twisting my hands around each other quickly. I close my eyes and try and focus on my breathing. If I don't slow it down, I will pass out. I sit down on the bleacher.

Thalia notices me sit down. "Annabeth? ANNABETH?" I shake my head. _No, please don't draw attention to me. I'm stronger than this._ I feel the lump in my throat. Thalia starts climbing over people on the bleachers. "Percy! PERCY!" She can't be heard over the screaming and excited crowd, but she can be seen. Percy spots her and seems to instantly realize what is wrong. He starts pushing people out of the way.

In an instant, Percy is at my side and has his hands on my shoulders. I shudder, holding back a sob. He slips his arm around my back and helps me stand. I'm so numb. Everything is happening in slow motion. I can't feel my legs. I'm scared. Percy is supporting me to that I don't fall over. The moment we are out of the gym, I collapse in his arms. I'm shaking and sobbing. My chest tightens. I can tell the end is near.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're okay. You're okay. I'm here. Nothing is going to hurt you," he murmurs over and over in my ear. He wraps his strong arms around me, holding me very tightly.

I clutch his Goode swimming sweatshirt for something to hang on to. It is very wet with my tears and snot. He sits on a bench and I curl up next to him in his arms. In any other circumstance, this would be very romantic. Goode must have scored because the crowd erupts on the other side of the wall. I shudder and start crying harder. My breathing increases again.

"Hey, hey hey. Let's leave. Go outside or something. Annabeth, you can't stay here." He tries to urge me to stand, but I can't. This bench is safe. I don't want to leave it.

"Oh gods, Annie. You're sweating buckets." Suddenly Malcolm is standing there. He gently, but still rather roughly pries me from Percy. "You need to go outside." He shoots a scowl at Percy. I want to protest and say that Percy was about to take me outside, but I can't form words. Malcolm starts to march me outside. _No,_ I want to protest, _Don't take me from him._ Percy and Thalia follow us outside. I instantly notice the temperature difference. Inside was full of sweaty gross teenagers as well as a heating system. Outside, It was below zero and there was still snow on the ground. I shiver slightly. Malcolm doesn't notice.

Percy notices me shivering immediately and pulls off his sweatshirt and hands it to me. I put it on, not unaware of Malcolm's glare at Percy. His large, blue swimming sweatshirt completely envelops my body.

We stand there in silence for a few minutes. I can see my breath hang in the still air by the light of the near streetlamp. Another cheer echoes from what feels to be miles away and I almost have to strain my ears to hear it. A dog barks off in the distance. I can smell Percy's cologne and the smell of chlorine on his sweatshirt. Through the silence, I hear the sound of a glass bottle breaking. Two, very drunk teenage boys appear from the shadows and approach us.

"Heeeeeey there, Hottie. Need a place to stay tonight?" one of them asks, nearly spilling his beer.

"They don't call me the miracle worker for nothing," The other adds. They both wobble over towards me. The air starts to reek of alcohol and fried chicken. Before they can get within five feet of me, Malcolm and Percy step in front of me and Thalia.

"Back off, buddy." Malcolm growls. Malcolm is a lot shorter than both guys and way smaller all around.

The drunks seem to notice this and start laughing. Malcolm shrinks back a little bit but stays planted in front of me. Percy, however, steps forward. He is taller and more buff than the jocks and now it's their turn to shrink back. Percy snarls, "He said, Back. Off."

The two seem to realize that they are not going to win any fight and they hobble back into the dark and dirty corner they came from. The air is silent once again and Percy breathes a sigh of relief. I see Malcolm give Percy a nod of appreciation and nothing more. He turns to me, "Are you okay?"

I nod numbly. "I just want to go home."

"Let's go." Percy puts his arm around my shoulders and gently walks me to his car. Malcolm and Thalia follow us and climb in the back row of Percy's car. I climb shotgun. "Can we stop at my place?" Percy asks, "I need to grab some stuff and say 'hi' to my mom."

"Of course," I say.

"Yes!" Thalia exclaims, "It's been a while since I've seen Aunt Sally."

"You saw her the night of the crash," Percy says as he pulls out of the parking lot.

"Right. For. Ever."

Percy rolls his eyes, but I see a small smile on his face. After a minute of driving in silence, Percy takes one hand off of the steering wheel and places it over mine on the armrest. I look up at him and he has a goofy grin on his face. His eyes ask if I'm okay. I nod and lace my fingers with his. He smiles at me. If Malcolm notices or cares, he does not make it obvious.

We pull into the parking lot of an apartment complex. There are not many cars around. I wonder how many people live here.

"Is Gabe here?" Thalia asks.

"Who's Gabe?" I ask.

"My stepfather," Percy says with gritted teeth, "and I don't see his car, so if you guys want to come up and meet my mom, you can."

_Why does it matter if his step dad is there or not?_ I wonder. I nod and look back at Malcolm. He shrugs and we all get out of the car.

Thalia leads the way up the stairs, practically skipping. I catch up to her. "Just wait until you meet Aunt Sally. She is the best, you are going to love her."

We climb to the third floor and Thalia grabs a key out of her pocket. She unlocks the door and opens it slowly. "Aunt Sally?"

"Thalia? Is that you?"

I hear a door open and a woman rounds the corner. She has long brown hair, swept back with a scrunchie and beautiful blue eyes. She is wearing leggings and a long comfy sweater. She looks beautiful and very kind. Thalia runs to give her a hug.

"How are you, Thalia? Is Percy with you? And who is this?"

"This is Annabeth and her twin brother and Percy were right behind us."

She reaches out to shake my hand. Her hands are cold and calloused on the tips, as though she spends all day on the computer. She smiles brightly and her eyes seem to dance. "I'm glad to finally meet you, Annabeth. I've heard so much about you from Percy and Thalia here."

I smile back. "It's nice to finally meet some of Percy's family."

Percy and Malcolm enter through the still open door. Percy immediately gives his mom a hug. "Hi, Mom. This is Malcolm, Annabeth's twin."

"Hi, Percy. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"I call you every night." It's true, Percy steps outside into the freezing cold every night after dinner to call his mom.

"But I haven't _seen_ you in forever," she turns to Malcolm, "How are you, Malcolm?"

"I'm good, Mrs. Jackson."

"Sally is fine, dear. Do you guys want some cookies? Fresh out of the oven."

"Yes!" Thalia exclaims. Sally laughs and leads us through the apartment to the kitchen. It's a small apartment and it does not feel very cozy. There are little decorations on the walls. The entry hall seems to be at one corner of the apartment. around a corner, we get to the kitchen/living room. I count five doors leading off of the living space. I assume at least two are bedrooms, one for Percy and one for his mom and stepfather. One is ajar and leads to an office space with a computer still on. The kitchen is a bright yellow and there is a tray of blue chocolate chip cookies in the table. I faintly smell alcohol under the sweet aroma of the cookies. The living room is a mess, there are poker chips, cards, popcorn, and beer cans everywhere.

Thalia grabs a cookie and Malcolm and I follow suit. Percy heads back towards the entry hall and disappears through a door. Sally gets down a few cups and offers us juice. "I'm sorry that it's such a mess in here, I was not expecting company."

"It's cleaner than my apartment," Thala says with a laugh.

Percy comes back into the kitchen with a backpack full of stuff on his back. He grabs two cookies. "Thanks, Mom. These are really good."

"Thanks, Percy. Do you guys want to stay and play a game for a while?"

Percy shifts uneasily where he is standing. "When is Gabe going to be home? I'd like to leave before then."

Sally checks the watch on her wrist. "It's only nine, we should be fine. What do you think?"

Percy hesitates and my mind fills with questions. _Who is Gabe? Thalia says he sucks, but how? Why are we avoiding him? Is he the reason it reeks of alcohol and hangovers in here? If he is such a bad person, why is Sally still with him? Are Sally and Gave even married? She's not wearing a ring._ As it turns out, it does not matter if we stay or go. The hearty laughter of a few heavyset drunken men echoes from the stairwell down the hall. Percy sighs, "Gabe's home."

Sally smiles softly. "It was nice to meet you guys. Why don't you go to Percy's room and he'll help you out. I hope to see you again soon."

I look up. "What?" Percy starts to usher us into his room. "Percy, what's going on? Why do we have to hide?"

He just shakes his head. "I'll explain later, just stay quiet." and with that, he shuts his bedroom door. I look at Thalia and Malcolm. Malcolm is as confused as I am. Thalia just looks worried.

"Thalia, what is happening?" I want to cry and sob and panic all at once. She winces for a second and then pulls me and Malcolm into the corner of Percy's room that is furthest from the door. She whispers so quietly that I strain to hear her. "Percy's stepfather, Gabe...well, to put it short, he abuses them. Sally needs the money he makes to keep her and Percy safe, but He gets drunk and gambles and hits them. I didn't realize how bad it had gotten recently until the night of the crash when I was here with Percy."

My mouth drops to the floor. I think Malcolm's does too. I had no idea. This must be why Percy has no problem staying at my house so often. "Wow," I breathe. It's a lot to take in.

"Shhhh," Thalia urges. I grow quiet and listen. I hear the door open and about four men enter. Even from the bedroom, I can smell the money they spent on drinks tonight. I crinkle my nose but remain silent.

"What are you doing here, boy?" One of the men snarl.

"This is where I live, Gabe," Percy practically spits back.

"Then make yourself useful. Go get the poker stuff."

I hear a thud and a groan and I assume Gabe pushed Percy down. I wince. Thalia grabs my hand and I can She that she is as scared as I am.

"Your poker chips are right here, Gabe." Sally's voice is a mixture of fear and fire.

"But I didn't tell you to get them, did I? I told that son of a whore to." Gabe is screaming. I can practically hear the spit flying out of his mouth.

Above the laughter of the other drunk men, I hear a slap. And then dead silence.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her," Percy screams. His voice is horse yet powerful.

"I wouldn't have to if she did as she was told. Now, where are my snacks, Whore?"

"Cookies are just coming out of the oven." I can hear the pain in her voice.

Tears fill my eyes. I look up at Malcolm and see he is about to cry as well.

Thalia pulls me into a hug and whispers, "Shhhh. Gabe can't know we're in here."

I dissolve in a pile of tears. I tune out the conversation happening in the kitchen. After a few minutes, Percy comes in and closes the door behind him. When he turns on the light, I can see a bright red handprint across his face. I just stare in shock. Many many things are made clear in one instant.

"Is he gone?" Thalia asks.

Percy just shakes his head. "Well have to stay here for a while, maybe even overnight. Unless you want to climb down the fire escape."

Thalia shudders, "Not again."

Percy nods. "Then we'll sleep here. We have to stay quiet until they pass out."

He grabs a pillow from his closet and throws it on to the air mattress set up in the corner. I didn't notice it there before but it looks like it has been slept in recently.

I sit on the air mattress, but Thalia shakes her head. "Absolutely not. You are a guest. You get the mattress."

I know that it's pointless to argue with Thalia. She is slightly taller than me, but she could still beat any of us up. I remember the time she judo flipped the lead quarterback over her shoulder because he flirted with her. I sigh dramatically but stand.

Thalia opens Percy's closet and grabs out a large t-shirt and a sweatshirt. She tosses the sweatshirt at me. I smile and it makes me feel really good that she remembers that I sleep in sweatshirts since I am always cold. She smiles at me.

Percy nods, "The bathroom is through there," He points to a door next to the closet, "And it's only nine o'clock, we don't have to go to sleep anytime soon."

"We just have to be quiet," Thalia fills in. I nod. This whole thing feels surreal. I have never experienced such a rush of emotions. I feel so scared on behalf of Percy and Sally. I feel so heartbroken at the thought of how long they have been dealing with this. I am afraid of having to stay in this house overnight. It's also kind of exciting to have to stay quiet like I'm in one of my spy novels. I'm also glad for a reason to learn even more about Percy. I want to be near him all the time but I don't know anything about him. His mom is amazing and I hope to see her more.

I sit down again, suddenly overwhelmed with emotions. Percy immediately is at my side. He crouches down to be at my eye level. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I say with a shake of my head, "I just...today has been a lot."

"Let me show you something." It's not a question. He stands up and offers me his hand. I look up in wonder. What in the world is he planning to show me? We can't leave his room. I notice Malcolm behind him, my confused expression mirrored on his face. Percy gives me a sly grin.

I grab his hand and he leads me around the mess of clothes and books on his floor. He opens the window and climbs out on to the fire escape. He turns around to offer me his hand and he still has his goofy grin etched onto his face. I can't help but smile right back. I grab his hand and let him help me climb out the window. The view from our side takes my breath away. We are several stories above the busy New York streets below and several floors removed from the noise. the faint pink of a faded sunset can still be seen between the apartment buildings across the street and way off in the distance I can see the waters of the ocean. Percy chuckles a little behind me. I turn.

"That was my initial reaction, too." He walks to where he has stacked two folding chairs against the wall and carefully sets them on the grated floor. I sit in one. "This room was initially mom's since it has the bathroom attached, but when she married Gabe, she figured I'd want a place to get my own fresh air. So we switched."

"That was nice of her." I can see my breath in the air and I realize how cold I am. I unfold the sweatshirt in my arms and notice that it is Percy's swimming sweatshirt from last year. I quickly put it on.

"I'm very lucky to have her."

"What happened to your dad?" I ask timidly. I want to know. I want to know more about him. His story is so mysterious.

He takes a deep breath. "I never knew him. He didn't stick around, but my mom says he was wonderful and doesn't hate him for leaving. They spent a summer together on the beach. Due to his job or whatever, he couldn't settle down but he made sure she'd be well off with a kid."

I nod, not really sure what an appropriate reaction would be.

"And I'm sure you want to know more about Gabe."

I nod again. "I don't want to pry, but I'm curious."

He shrugs. "You may as well know, seeing as we spend so much time together." He takes a deep breath, but this time it's more of a sigh, "My mom married his a few years back. She said we needed him for some reason. He wasn't so bad back then. He taught me to play poker and let me see all of his police equipment. Then he got controlling. Made my mom quit her job so that we'd be dependent on him and his job. Started hitting her when she didn't have everything he needed. He only hits me when I get in the way or try and protect my mother."

My hand flies to my mouth. "I'm so sorry, Percy."

He swallows, blinks and turns his face from me, but I see the tears well up in his eyes. "It's fine. He's never gone so far as to force her to perform in the bedroom. She often sleeps on the air mattress in my room, which is why it was set up." The flood gates have opened and an endless stream of tears streak down his cheek.

I feel the tears well up in my eyes. I gently put my hand on his shoulder. 'I'm so sorry. I never knew."

He smiles at my touch. "I try to hide it. But it's okay. My mom and I sill make the best of it. And she is saving secretly to get us out of here. I try to not let it affect me at school or anything."

He pulls his chair closer and puts his arm around me. For a few minutes, we sit there and watch the cars pass on the road miles below us. Then he says, "What about you? Do you have a crazy story to go with your family?"

I giggle slightly, "Well, my dad and mom were married for almost ten years. Both were brilliant in strategy and architecture and weaponry. When I was seven, my mom got some rare form of cancer and died a rather quick but painful death in the hospital. Then my dad got rough on me and 'Com. 'Com was always the favorite, so I always had to push my self to feel worth at the age of seven. When Mom died, the way my dad treated me got really bad. I ran away not long after. That's when I met Luke who also has mommy issues. On my way home, I ran into Thalia at the park and the three of us became close as kids. When I was twelve, Dad remarried Erin. She didn't like either me or Malcolm but only took it out on me. I never liked the idea that Dad chose a replacement for Mom and I guess I took that out on her. Then she had Bobby and Matthew. Things haven't really improved between us and Dad's still absent-minded most of the time, but I guess I'm used to it." I yawn and lean my head on his shoulder. His arm tightens around me and pulls me closer. I smile. I'm not used to feeling safe and secure like this, but In Percy's arms, it just feels right. And the strangest thing is that it feels entirely plutonic, which is not what I expected to feel if I were to ever cuddle with some guy.

We sit and talk for a while until Percy pulls out his phone and realizes it's almost 11:30. I am about to fall asleep on his shoulder. He gently helps me up and back through the window. Malcolm is asleep on the air mattress and Thalia is pretending to be asleep in the bed. I go crawl into the queen-sized bed next to Thalia and pray that I have a nightmare free night. But my prayers were in vain.


	9. The Second Hospital Visit

God to my Goddess

Chapter 9

Percy's POV

I crawl into bed next to Malcolm after helping Annabeth. Of course, I can't sleep. After about an hour of silence and rhythmic breathing, I hear someone suddenly gasp with fear. I sit up instantly and look over where the girls are sleeping. Thalia remains motionless, but Annabeth is slowly moving around in her bed, still asleep. As I sit there, her breathing quickens and so do her motions. She is clearly having a nightmare of some sort. I carefully get off the air mattress so as to not awaken Malcolm and cross the room to my bed, cursing my self for having so many tripping hazards strewn about.

I squat next to her and grab her hands. I lean close to her and whisper softly, "Hey, hey, hey. Annie, You are okay. You are safe. It's just a nightmare."

She seems to relax a bit and her breathing slows down but she doesn't stop thrashing around. I sigh, having hoped to not have to wake her up and gently shake her. SHe sits up with a loud gasp.

"Hey!" I say, "You're fine. It was just a bad dream."

"Oh Percy," she breathes, "It was an awful dream." Her hands grip my arm and pull me closer. I smile at the sight of her hands covered by the end of the sleeves of my sweatshirt. She tries to wrap her arms around me and cuddle up to me like out on the fire escape and nearly falls off the bed.

"Hang on," I whisper and detach my self from her hands. I feel her eyes following me as I make my way to the other side of the bed where Thalia is sleeping. I gently shake her, forgetting how heavy of a sleeper she is. I shake her a little more violently, but she still doesn't budge. Gritting my teeth, I carefully roll her to the edge of the bed and off the edge. That certainly did the trick.

Still half asleep, she mutters "jerk," under her breath but goes and climbs into bed with Malcolm. I slip into Thalia's place on the bed and Annabeth snuggles right up to me. I admit I loved the pure and innocent feeling of having someone cuddle up with me. I loved being able to protect someone from harm.

I gently run my fingers through her hair. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Reliving the crash."

I take my other hand and wrap it over her waist and pull her closer to me. "You don't have to worry about that happening again while I'm here."

We both fall silent for a while. I hear Thalia grunt and roll over in the other bed. Annabeth starts to giggle. "What?"

"Thalia's a cuddler. I wonder what sight we're going to wake up to." I start to laugh quietly too. The vision of Thalia snuggled right up to Malcolm is golden.

"Is Malcolm a cuddler too?"

"Depends on his mood. But this could be interesting."

"It certainly could."

She puts her hands over my arm around her waist. "Play with my hair again. That felt nice."

I do and it's not long before we are both asleep.

I wake up and Annabeth is snuggled deep in my arms. I smile. She is still sleeping so peacefully. She looks so calm and relaxed. I use my arm that is draped over her to pull her closer to me. She responds by shifting and snuggling deeper in my arms. My heart flutters. I twist my head to look at the clock on my nightstand. It's just past nine. Annabeth starts to roll over and stretch. Her grey eyes start to flutter open. She seems to realize that we are snuggled so close together and blush starts to make its way up from her neck. She scoots away from me and sits up. I sit up too. "Good Moning, Sunshine. How'd you sleep?"

"Morning, Perce." She yawns and I remember how cute she looks when she's just woken up. I actually miss when I first started staying at her house and she'd have nightmares or attacks every night and I'd stay with her. I love being able to protect someone from something since I can't always do that with my mom. "Like a rock."

Suddenly she bursts into a fit of giggles. "What?" I ask. 

She points to the air mattress Thalia and Malcolm are sleeping on, unable to form words. I look. The two have kicked the covers to the floor. Malcolm is on his back like usual while Thalia has her head on his chest and is cuddled right up to him. His arm is wrapped around her. Annabeth already has her phone out and is snapping pictures. 

"Cute," I say.

Annabeth looks at me. "Did your cousin forget to mention that she 'has the hots' for my brother?"

My mouth drops. "It must have slipped her mind. This is golden." I pul my phone out and take a few pictures as well. 

There is a soft knock at my door. I know it must be Sally since Gabe wouldn't bother to knock. "Yeah?" I call out gently.

My mom pokes her head around the door. "Hey, come here for a second."

I slip out of bed and gently shut the door behind me. I follow my mom to the kitchen, the floor feeling cold against my bare feet. She motions for my help as she starts to clear the beer cans and bottles and poker chips from the kitchen table. I help without complaining. I've done this more times than I could count. 

"So, You and Annabeth slept together last night?" She asks casually.

I feel my cheeks go red. "Mooooom," I protest, "She had a nightmare."

She laughed, "I know. I was just teasing you. I trust you. I would not have let you have a coed sleepover last night if I didn't."

"Not that you had much of a choice," I mumble under my breath as I grab a rag to wipe the table down. 

"You underestimate your mother. I would've found a way." She pulls out a bowl and starts to mix together her from scratch waffle mix. "I know you, Percy. You would never do anything to hurt your friends. Besides, I saw the way you looked at Annabeth last night as you rushed her to your room."

I look up at my mom. "And how did I look at her, exactly?"

"With nothing but love. You care so deeply and feel so responsible for this girl. You want nothing more than for her to be safe. I've never seen anyone look at another person with that level of care. You also had hurt in your eyes for having to introduce her to this part of your life." She gives me a warm smile but there is a playful fire in her eyes, "I also saw a bit of romantic interest in this girl in your eyes."

As much as I try to hide it, I can feel the blush creep up my cheeks and I know my mom sees it too. "That's not true." I protest. 

She puts her hands up as though I'd pointed a loaded weapon at her. "Okay, okay. Maybe I misread it. What do I know? It's been years since I've been in love."

"So, Why did you call me out here? I doubt it was to poke fun at my relationship with Annabeth."

"I wanted you to help me make breakfast to go. You guys should leave soon."

I nod. "I'll go wake everyone up. Thanks." I place a kiss on her cheek.

"It was nice meeting your friends, Percy. They seem like nice people. They make you smile."

I don't respond but her approval makes me smile. I carefully creep back to my bedroom and open the door. Annabeth is looking at something on her phone. Thalia and Malcolm are still snuggled together. I look up at Annabeth. "We need to get everyone awake. My mom is making breakfast to go. We need to leave."

She nods and slips out of bed. "We should wake up Malcolm first. Trust me." She walks over to the side of the bed where her brother is sleeping. SHe gently shakes his arm. He opens his eyes and it takes him a minute to realize where he was. "Morning 'Com. We need to get ready to go."

He just nods and starts to close his eyes again. His gaze rests on the mob of Black hair sprawled across his chest. Suddenly his eyes get very wide as he realizes how he and Thalia slept last night. He tries to scoot away from her but Thalia wraps her arms around him. "Stay here." Malcolm flushes red and looks up at Annabeth who is filming the whole thing. 

I walk to the other side of the bed and gently shake Thalia awake. She, however, is not a morning person. "Jerk," she mumbles at me while climbing closer to Malcolm until she is almost on top of him. 

"Come on, Thals. We need to be awake."

Malcolm successfully pushes Thalia off of him and he stands up. I pull the blankets off the mattress and throw them to the other side of the room. I nod my head toward the door and Malcolm and Annabeth follow me out into the hall. My mom has four bags sitting on the table and the smell of waffles makes me smile. I give my mom a hug and pull on a pair of shoes. Malcolm and Annabeth put on shoes as well. Thalia stumbles into the kitchen and tries to fall asleep at the table. I gently pick her up out of the chair and set her on the ground. She glares at me while she goes to put her shoes on. I grab the sacked breakfasts for people and give my mom another kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Annabeth and Malcolm echo me, "Thank you, Sally."

Sally steps to give Annabeth a hug. "it was nice to finally meet you, Annabeth."

Annabeth smiles. Sally gives Thalia a hug as well. "I am glad to see you again, Thalia. You are always welcome around here."

"Thanks, Aunt Sally," She yawns rather loudly, "I'll see you soon."

We carefully make our way into the hallway of the building and then the elevator. 

In the car, I drive and Annabeth sits shotgun, much to Malcolm's dismay as Thalia cuddles right up next to him in the back seat. I pull out of the parking lot and start driving towards Annabeth's house. My phone chimes in my pocket. I pull it out and hand it to Annabeth to read for me since I'm driving. I'd normally leave it for later but I want to answer it if it's my mom. 

She reads the text and pales. I look over at her. "What?"

"Its from Will at the hospital. Luke's awake."

Making a split second decision, I swerve across three lanes of traffic to make a left turn. The new change in course will put up on route to the hospital. 

Moments later I park the car in the parking lot of the building I've seen enough of for a lifetime. We all file out of the car. I grab Annabeth's arm in a can I talk to you? gesture. I notice Malcolm scowl when he sees me pull his sister aside, but I don't stop. 

"Why did you freak out when you read that text? Is everything okay?"

She shifts her weight from foot to foot uncomfortably. "Yeah, I just was hoping to not have to face this whole mess quite yet."

I put my hands on her shoulders in a, hopefully, comforting way. "You don't have to do this right now if you don't want to. But you also don't have to do this alone. You have me, your brother and your best friend."

She smiles. "Thanks. I'm just not sure what to expect from Luke."

"Will will meet us in the hall and tell us what to expect."

"You really know how this whole system works, don't you." A look of realization crosses over her playful face. "That's why you've been to the hospital so many times, isn't it? Gabe? And you don't want to report him for some reason?"

"It's complicated. But yeah, that's why I'm always here, I guess."

She nudges me playfully with her shoulder. "I'm smart. I can handle complicated."

"Okay then, Wise Girl. I'm sorry for underestimating you."

She flushes a deep red at my words. "I'm sorry," I say quickly, "It's just hard for me to put emotions into words."

She nods, her cheeks still scarlet. We finish the walk to Luke's room in silence and, as predicted, Will is waiting there with Thalia and Malcolm to full us in. 

"He is stable and recovering, He is paralyzed waist down and is having some trouble speaking still. He does not know what happened or why he is in the hospital. I can tell him, or you guys can fill him in. There is no way to tell yet if he remembers people." 

I nod and notice that they do too. Will nods and leads us down the hallway and gently pushes open a door. Luke sits on the bed eating an apple. He looks the same as ever. His blonde hair is maybe a little bit longer than usual. We all file into the room. Annabeth and Thalia both give audible gasps upon seeing Luke. 

"Hi guys," Luke says in a mundane voice. 

"Hi, Luke," I say tentatively, "How are you?"

He shrugs. "No one will tell me what's going on, so I don't know how I am"

"How much do you remember?"

"Nothing."

"Do you remember people?" Thalia asks

"Of course, I remember you, Thals. I just don't know why I'm here."

"Well," Thalia begins, "You were driving along the road and it was snowy and icy and dangerous. Annabeth was crossing the road and didn't see you. You couldn't stop in time. She couldn't get out of the way. And then Percy jumps in front of her just in time and knocks her back while you ram your car into a light pole. Without Percy, you would've killed Annie."

A look of horror crosses Luke's face and Malcolm and I have the same instinct: Protect Annabeth. Malcolm goes to step in front of her. She reaches out and grabs my hand for moral support. I intertwine our fingers as she steps forward and says, "It's okay, Luke, I'm fine."

"Fine? Physically, maybe. But Annie, I nearly took your life. How could I do such as thing? How can I make it up to you?" He is shouting with fury and I think that most of it is rage at himself. 

"You don't have to pay reparations, Luke. You just need to heal and move on. I'm fine."

"I do," He insists. 

I hear a low growl from Malcolm. "'You don't."

Thalia moves to stand next to his bed. "We just came to see how you were and if you needed anything, not to make you feel bad for what happened. It was just an accident."

Luke shakes his head. "You're not making me feel bad. You actually told me what happened. No one else has done that. I..."

Thalia starts gently playing with the edges of the blanket. "You already paid for it. You're paralyzed. I don't think you need to do anything extra."

I look at Annabeth who is still holding my hand and is now clutching my arm with her other hand. I squeeze her hand once and she looks up at me. I see that her eyes are filled to the brim with tears. I carefully put my other hand over her's on my arm and start leading her to the door. "We'll be right back."

In the hall, Annabeth sits against the wall. "Annabeth? Are you okay?"

She just shakes her head and pulls her knees to her chest. 

"Annie, talk to me. Is it Luke?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. It's like asking me to relive the crash again."

I squat next to her. "Maybe we should stay away from him for a bit. If you can't... If it hurts you to see him."

"I can't ask you to do that, Percy. I know you two are friends."

"Friends," I say, the word suddenly tasting foreign on my tongue, "He's popular. Everyone knows him."

She looks up at me. I notice the tears rolling silently down her face. Her grey eyes are full of fear and worry. She wipes her tears on the sleeve of my sweatshirt that she is wearing. I smile seeing that she is still in my sweatshirt. It's ridiculously large on her. 

I stand and offer her my hand. "Come on."

"What are we doing?"

"We are going to walk back to your house. It's not far from here and you look like you could use the fresh air." She grabs my hand and stands. I go back into the room and hand Malcolm my keys since Thalia is still standing right next to Luke. Back the hallway, I offer Annabeth my arm as though we were off to a ball in the 1800s. She giggles and accepts it. We make our way outside and breathe in the crisp cold air. By the time we make it back to her house, Luke is completely out of mind and Malcolm and Thalia have already made it home. 


	10. The Fight

God to my Goddess

Chapter 10

Thalia's POV

I see Annabeth leaving her final class, talking to Malcolm, who has definitely grown hotter recently. I quickly catch up with Annabeth.

"Hey, Thals. How was class?" She asks. I haven't seen Annabeth since the hospital. She has bags under her eyes and her hair is a giant mess. It looks like she hadn't slept in weeks. Not to mention the fact that she was back in leggings and her Goode sweatshirt.

"Fine. Are you okay? You look like you just got back from Tartarus."

"I'm fine."

"I don't believe you." Annabeth has always been easily readable. That's part of the reason we became friends. 'What's on your mind? Something is obviously bothering you."

"I saw Jason and Piper hanging out at lunch."

I nudge my best friend, "They always sit together, they are dating, remember?"

"But it seemed so innocent. I don't think it's fair that Piper doesn't know."

I shake my head. "There is a lot about Jason that Piper doesn't know. She'll kill us if we tell her." I hate confrontation. I know that Piper will kill us for not telling her once she finally finds out, but that's a problem for future me.

"She's our friend, Thals. I hate seeing her in a fake relationship. Especially since she loves him so much."

I reach out my hand to stop Annabeth from walking. "Look, I know it's wrong, but if we tell her about him cheating every other day, then we also have to tell her that he gets high and drunk and where he really lives. Annie, if this all comes out, then he gets kicked off the football team. He loses his scholarship and doesn't go to college and then we have no home."

"I find it hard to believe that all of that rides on whether Piper knows or not. We could tell her in private and then the relationship is over."

"You know she'd tell everyone. She likes to get her revenge."

"Thals," Annabeth protests, "You don't know her as I do. If she just knew-"

"Knew what?" I freeze and close my eyes, wishing this wasn't real. "Who?"

I turn around slowly and see Piper herself standing in the middle of the hallways while Drew and Selena flank her on either side. The rest of the people go silent and back out of the way, giving me and Annabeth a clear line of sight to Piper. I mentally curse myself. If I hadn't stopped us walking, then she would never have heard us. If I'd been more persuasive, she would've dropped it sooner. But now the secret will get out. In front of everyone. And Piper will absolutely hate us.

I see the moment Piper drops her friendly face. Suddenly she isn't the British style queen anymore. She is an evil lipstick wearing fraud who owns this place. "I know you weren't talking about me. I know you weren't keeping secrets from me."

Annabeth tries to shrink back into the crowd. "Nothing Pipes, nothing."

"Don't lie to me, Annie." Piper spits her name at her. No one talks to my friend like that.

"We weren't talking about you, Pipes." I put as much mockery and sarcasm into my voice as possible, fighting fire with fire. I know she doesn't believe me. She heard her name.

She puts on this falsetto smile. "Oh, you weren't? Then tell me, who were you talking about."

"Don't worry about it, Sweetie." I give her an evil grin and turn to Annabeth, "Let's go."

"No. Wait. I want to hear the gossip. What do I not know?"

"Not here, Piper." Annabeth pleads.

I give her a glare. Don't say anything I silently plead.

"Do you have something to tell me, Annie?"

"Piper, I'll tell you everything. Just not here."

She sashays over to where she is standing inches from Annabeth. "Go ahead. I don't care if everyone hears."

I've never seen Annabeth so scared. She is trying to hide behind her hands. The hallway is so silent, you could hear a pin drop.

"Jason," Annabeth mumbles so quietly that you can barely hear her.

"Excuse me?"

"Jason." Annabeth stands up a little straighter, a little stronger.

"What about him? You're not into my boyfriend, are you?"

"Ewww. no. There's just a lot you don't know about your 'boyfriend'," Annabeth seems to realize that she holds the power in this conversation. She stands at her full height, 5'5", taller than Piper's 5'2" frame. It does not seem to matter though, Piper has an extra two feet of power.

Piper pops her hip and turns to the watching crowd. "This chick seems to think there are things I don't know about my own boyfriend, that she does know. Where is Jason?" She cranes her neck to see if he's in the crowd.

"He's in the janitors closet." Annabeth's voice is so small and pitiful. Piper freezes and for just a second, I can see through the act she's putting up. She falters and that is just enough to give Annabeth confidence. Nico pushes his way through the crowd to stand next to me.

"You are telling me that my boyfriend is in the Janitor's closet?" Piper is now on the other side of the circle facing Annabeth. Drew and Hazel slowly sink back into the crowd. "What would my boyfriend be doing in the janitor's closet?"

I take a brave step forward. "Where is Selena, Piper?"

If looks could kill, I'd be dead ten times over. I give Piper an evil smile. She has never scared me and she knows she has no power over me.

"I don't keep tabs on my friends at all times."

"Liar," I spit, "You know exactly where she is. You are too much of a coward to admit it to yourself."

Piper pales under all her makeup. You have to really know Piper to be able to tell, but she is falling apart.

I can't believe I'm the one who has finally broken The Piper McLean. And I'm the only one who knows that she is broken. Well, I look over at Annabeth, me and Annabeth.

Annabeth stands up. I watch my best friend and favorite cousin bring to mind all the horrible things that Piper has ever done to her. I watch her bring all her bottled up anger to the forefront of her mind. I know she is about to explode. Nico next to me seems to realize what is about to happen as well. He makes a start towards Annie but I hold my arm out and shake my head. We don't need Annabeth on our bad side and Piper deserves everything she is about to get.

"You are the blondest brunette I've ever met. You just accept the lame excuses your 'boyfriend' gives you without a second thought. You hold him in the highest regard while he wasn't looking for anything commital. We tried to warn you. Jace is a great guy, just a suckish boyfriend. You let all the truths about him that we told you, go in one ear and out the other. Not only that, but you treat your 'friends' like dirt. You walked all over us and I'm done. I'm going to ruin your life for a change."

Piper did her best to give Annie an evil smile, "Do your worst, but then, I want a turn." She pops her hip out so far that I am sure she popped it out of its socket. She stands there like a little kid eating all the popcorn before the previews are over, her hungry eyes looking my best friend up and down, searching for weakness.

"Your boyfriend, Jason Grace, lives in an apartment with his sister. Both of their parents abandoned them. To cope? He gets drunk and high. He tells you that he doesn't like people who get drunk so that you won't go places where you see him like that. He tells you he doesn't like people who are high so you will stay away from people who do drugs so you don't accidentally see him getting the money to pay bills."

Piper scoffs. "He has a job, that's how he pays the bills. You are just making stuff up."

"What is his job, Pipes?" I ask.

She pales even more under her makeup. "We never thought it was important enough to talk about. He doesn't know my job or the name of my first dog."

"You don't have a job, Piper." Annabeth corrects. "Your parents are never around because they are big and famous and whatever and they just give you a ton of money to screw around with. That's why you are such a spoiled brat. And your first dog was named Sparky. He dies when you were 10 and you sobbed for months. You walked around everywhere with your stuffed dog and a picture of him in a locket around your neck."

"How do you know that?" Piper asks quickly, a little too quickly. Quiet murmurs are heard from the crowd of people gathered around us. I know they are starting to doubt Piper's position as queen. Even Drew takes a tentative step backward.

"Because you used to care about people, Piper. You used to be nice and have true friends. You used to be able to tell when someone was lying to you. Apparently, that has changed."

"So what, Jason likes to do normal teenager things. That doesn't mean he's not good for me. At least he treats me right. He doesn't let me see him get drunk."

Annabeth shakes her head. "You don't get it, Piper. Where was he when you got pushed in the hot tub at Drew's party?"

"There were a lot of people there."

"His buddies on the swim team were the ones leering and cheering for you to strip. He was in Drew's parent's room with a freshman. A cheerleader."

Piper's face flushes. I hope that she is starting to see that everything Annabeth is saying checks out.

"And what about your other friends? When was the last time you felt you could confide in them as friends do? When was the last time they told you a secret of their own and not gossip? When was the last time they told you about what lie you are living? Where is Selena, Piper? Where is she? Not with your 'boyfriend,' right? She would never do that."

I freeze. Annabeth is never this mean. I know she doesn't like Piper, but this is low. These digs are beneath even what Piper would have said.

"And Piper, when was the last time your parents actually bothered to come home?"

"Annabeth!" It's Nico. He jumps into the circle and grabs Annabeth's arms. "What are you doing? You would never say something like this. This is beneath you."

I turn to one of the Stoll brothers next to me. "Go get Percy." With a nod, he turns and disappears into the crowd.

At this point, Piper is absolutely fuming. "And you have such a perfect life? When was the last time your dad did anything to support you? And your real mom, she abandoned you because you were not good enough. You have never had a boyfriend, never been good enough. Never have been worth enough. Still a virgin too."

"If you remember way back to the time we used to be friends, You'd remember that I value being a virgin. And if I remember correctly, you are a virgin as well. You've never had someone who wanted you that way."

"ANNABETH!" Nico roars.

Annabeth jerks back to reality and realizes what she has just said and done to one of her closest friends, but it's too late. Piper lunges across the circle and puts her hands around Annabeth's neck. I stand there frozen, not sure what to do, even though I've been in my fair share of fights myself. Nico gets between the two and quickly pries Piper off Annabeth.

Piper sneers. "So, you yell at her and then still stop me from giving her what she deserves?" She looks at Annabeth, "Stop being a baby and hiding behind the scrawny emo kid. Fight your own battles."

Nico shakes his head. "No one ever deserves to be physically hurt."

Piper ducks under his arm to place a well-aimed punch at Annabeth. Nico pushes Piper to the ground. She falls flat on her butt. After a moment's hesitation, Drew helps her to her feet.

The teacher, Mr. Blowfis pushes his way to the front of the circle of students. "The bell rang ten minutes ago. All of you are late. Anyone who wants a month's detention should still be here in a count to ten." Most people start to shuffle backward and eventually, it is just me, Annabeth, Nico, Piper and Drew left. "Who wants to explain what happened here.?"

To no one's surprise, Piper steps forward. "Annabeth and Thalia provoked me. They were insulting me and my boyfriend and my family. Then Nico stepped in and pushed me."

Luckily, Nico has been in trouble enough times to know that an angry outburst to correct Piper would not help our situation and Annabeth was crying too hard to care.

Mr. Blowfis turns to me and Nico. "And what do you think happened?"

I step forward. "Annabeth was telling me that she felt sorry for all the things Piper didn't know about her boyfriend. Piper overheard and made a big scene to draw the truth out. Annabeth protested several times that the two of them should go talk privately, but Piper insisted. Then, once the truth came out, they started insulting each other. Nico stepped in to stop Annabeth from saying things she'd regret later. Then Piper got angry and tried to strangle and Punch Annabeth. That's when Nico pushed Piper to the ground when you walked up."

"That is not what happened at all." Piper snapped. "Annabeth started the whole thing. They are just trying to make me appear the victim."

Mr. Blowfis held a hand up to silence her. "I wanted to hear both sides before assuming the answer. Now, I have a class to teach. Ms. McLean, Ms. Tankia, please escort yourselves to the office and let Ms. Redmond know that I will be there after the remainder of this period. Mr. diAngelo, Ms. Grace, do what you need to help Annabeth as this can not have been good for her mental health. I would like you three to also report to the office as soon as she is taken care of."

His tone clearly implied 'don't mess with me' but I'm not so sure Piper and Drew got that message. Those two goody-two-shoes had never been sent to the office before in their lives. He turns and disappears into his classroom.

"I'm going to the bathroom," Piper snaps and she turns on her heel down the hallway. Drew hesitantly turns the other way towards the office.

Nico and I look at each other. He has Annabeth wrapped in his arms and is supporting her sobbing weight. As if on cue, Conner Stoll enters the now deserted hallway with Percy hot on his heels.

"Annabeth!" He sprints towards her and takes her from Nico. "What happened?"

I shake my head. "She and Piper got in a little bit of a brawl."

He uses his thumbs to wipe the tears from her eyes. I notice that his hands are cupping his face as if to kiss her. The same thought seems to cross his mind because he flushes slightly and drops his hands. "Let's go sit in Mr. Chiron's office. I hear he has restocked the candy bowl."

Annabeth nods slightly and the two of them head down the hallway the same way Drew went. Nico and I follow them to the office, preparing for the worst.

In the office, Percy leads Annabeth into another room. Mr. Chiron's office I suppose.

Nico gestures for me to sit in the other vacant chair next to Drew while he stands. I know that we will be here for a while. I listen intently to the words coming from the room next to me.

"Oh, Percy. It was awful. She hates me. It just came pouring out." I hear her sobs and my heart aches for her.

"Hey, hey hey. it's okay. Don't worry about it."

"But she's going to kill me."

"Look at me. Look at me." There is a lot of force and authority in Percy's voice. "Do you really think I'd let her do that? Do you think Malcolm and Thalia and Nico would let her do that?"

She giggles slightly. "Nico already stopped her."

"Good for him. I'll have to tell him not to do my job for me." He is playing with her now. I can see the smile teasing on his lips. I know that look all too well.

She replies with the same playful edge. "Well, if you had been there."

"You wanted me in on your girl talk with Thalia? I don't think so."

"It's not like we were talking about anything special."

"Just talking about school then, like the little wise girl you are."

I grin to myself, knowing that the name 'Wise Girl' was going to stick.

3rd person POV

As soon as she is out of sight of the others, Piper breaks into a sprint. She wipes the few tears from her face, chiding her self for shedding a tear over that worthless chick. She wasn't worth jack-squat. Not to Piper at least. Once she is feeling more confident again, she slows to her normal walking pace and approaches the janitors closet.

Annabeth had to be wrong, right? There is no way Jason would ever do that. He would never keep these kinds of secrets, especially from his girlfriend.

So why was she checking as though Annabeth still pulled some weight in her mind?

With a quick glance over each shoulder, she determines that the hallway is truly empty. She approaches the door with caution, straining to hear even the slightest sound.

She hears nothing. she smiles softly, this just confirms that Annabeth is dirty and low for lying to her like that.

Then she hears a sound she knows all too well. A breathy moan. She is instantly reminded of the nights of sitting outside her parents' room every time they were both home together. Hoping for some family time and all she got was a locked door and those moans. Her whole body tenses. She takes a few more cautious steps.

"Oooh yeah, Jason. Right there."

Piper closes her eyes and tries to block the picture that comes to mind. She tries not to see the images that scarred her brain as a child when she didn't quite understand why the door was closed. She tries not to hear the profanity that came out of her mother when uninterrupted. She tries not to remember how much trouble she'd been in for opening the door that one time. She tries not to compare it to what will happen when she opens this door.

And open the door she did. She flung it wide open, praying that the waterworks had not yet started.

There they were. Her boyfriend grinding against her best friend. Selena's shirt was hanging over the mop bucket and Jason was attacking her chest with his mouth. Both turn towards her, frozen like deer in headlights.

"Pipes, I-"

"Don't even, Jason. Annabeth was right. About all of it. You are a dirty scumbag and you have done nothing but lie to me and cheat on me. And now the whole school knows. I am worth so much more than this." She gestures to whatever the heck was going on between her two exes. With another shake of her head, she turns on her heel and runs for the nearest exit. She spends the rest of the day hiding in the bathroom and eventually just leaves, abandoning Drew to face punishment alone and without a ride home.


	11. Another Fight

Got to my Goddess

Chapter 11

Percy's POV

"Alright class, listen up. You should be about halfway done with your project on polls. You should at least have an outline of the paper you have to write and many examples of the polls. You have today's class to work on it, so use your time wisely."

I groan and hang my head in my hands. I haven't even started.

Annabeth pokes me in the side. "Hey, what's up?"

"I really don't want to do this. I haven't even started."

She grins. "Luckily for you, I have started. I figured you would forget about it. So, I have a good start."

I grin back. "Luckily for me, I'm partnered with my Wise Girl." I instantly blush and I see her blush too. _Did I really just say '_ my _Wise Girl?' Oh my gosh. I'm such a cheesy idiot._

"Unfortunately I'm partnered with such a Seaweed Brain." My mouth drops open. I never expected that much sass to come from her. She seems as shocked as I am that she said that, but she recovers quickly. "I'll write most of the essay, but you need to take several online quizzes and see where you line up and write a bit on each about how accurate the quiz is."

I nod slowly and pull out my computer. I search for dating quizzes and the first one that pops up is "How compatible are you two?" I grab Annabeth and we start the quiz.

1) How many kids does each of you want to have? do you agree on your answer or disagree?

I look at Annabeth. She shrugs, "I don't know. How ever many feels right, I guess."

I nod. "Enough to make it feel like a family." She smiles. I click agree.

2) Who makes more money? Man. Wife. About equal.

"I don't even have a job," I say slowly.

She laughs. "Me neither." I click about equal.

3) How many years have you two been together? 0-1. 2-4. 5+.

0-1.

The quiz goes on like that until we get to the final question.

15) How many years until wedding bells ring? 0-1. 2-4. 5+.

"Five plus," says Annabeth quickly.

"You said that fast." I give her a smirk.

"I don't plan on getting married for at least ten years, Seaweed Brain. We are still in high school."

"We are seventeen, We will be in our final year of college in five years. Anything Could happen. And besides," I sit back in my chair and put my arm on her shoulder, "You may fall deeply in love with me and we'll be married within a year." Her face goes red. I smile but I also chide myself for being so open. _Why in the world would you say that? You are not supposed to tell the girl you like that you like her. Maybe she won't notice._

"Marriage is a two-way street, Seaweed Brain, You'd have to fall madly in love with me, too."

 _Drat! She noticed. Quick, say something to cover yourself. Something that tells her you are totally not in love with her already._ "Maybe I already am." _Seriously Dude? You have no chill. Play it off as a joke or something. Be smooth about it._ I laugh. "You should have seen the look on your face." I quickly turn back to my computer and click '5+' and then 'get results'.

The screen instantly is filled with lots of pink, red and white hearts and large flashing words that read 'Perfectly Compatible, be prepared for a long-lasting romance that stays in the honeymoon phase for years!' I quickly open another tab and learn that Buzzfeed can not guess my eye color and that I agree with 39% of Americans on the outcome of the last election.

When the bell rings, Annabeth and I have a silent agreement to not speak about what I said during the class and we seem to put it behind us.

Annabeth is waiting outside of the locker room when I get done showering after swim practice. She sits on a bench about ten feet away, reading a very thick novel. Her hair is held back with a scrunchie, but it is loose so much of her hair is flying in her face regardless. She is biting her bottom lip.

"Hey, Wise Girl."

She looks up and grins, "Hey, Seaweed Brain."

"How was school?"

She scrunches her eyebrows, and says, "We went to school together, so you know how it went."

I laugh, "I know, I was just trying to make conversation."

"You succeeded in sounding like my mom."

We start walking toward my car. My stomach growls. "You hungry, Annie? because I am famished and would love to stop and get a burger."

She bites her lip nervously, "I don't know, I'm expected straight home."

 _What?!_ "By who? and besides, the question was if you were hungry or not, not if you were allowed to go get food."

"Well..." She seems to be fighting an internal battle. I get in the driver's seat and start the car. She climbs in the passenger seat, "Okay, fine. I am famished."

I laugh and drive us to the nearest fast food restaurant. We get burgers, fries, and shakes and sit there for a while laughing and eating like old friends. It is nearing two hours later when we pull into Annabeth's driveway.

"Are you spending the night?"

I shake my head, "That was not the plan, do you want me too? Because I can." _Wow, Dude, real smooth. Don't act too eager._

"You don't need to change the plans for me. Besides, it's been a month since the crash, We should start to 'wane off' as Apollo says."

I laugh at her spot on Apollo impression. "I'm going to grab some clothes I left here, but then I'll head home for the evening."

She nods and we climb out of the car. As I fumble with the keys to lock the car, I feel something bounce off my back. I turn and see Annabeth with her arm still outstretched from when she threw her napkin at me. I open my eyes really wide with surprise, but the shock does not last long. Instincts from years of being a high school boy kick in and I grab her with one arm. Once I have her pinned against my chest, I carefully pull the plastic lid off of my medium Pepsi and threaten to dump it all over her.

"No, no, please," she begs, trying to stifle her laughter. She struggles against my grip, but I am a thousand times stronger than her. Her attempts are in vain.

"What do you think you are doing?" I look up to see a very angry Malcolm standing there.

I release Annabeth, who says, "What?"

"You said that you were going to wait for Percy and then come home."

"That's what I did do." She sounds uncertain and a bit afraid of what is coming.

"Then where in the world have you been for the last two hours?"

I reach forward and put my hand on her shoulder. "We got something to eat. Why does it matter?"

"I have been waiting for you and worried sick. You didn't even bother to answer your phone, Annie."

"You are not my mom." Annabeth is shaking. I put my arm around her. and hold her close.

"I'm more of your mom than Athena and Erin ever were."

"Malcolm..." I growl. My fists clench.

He just shakes his head. "Go inside, Annie. I'll deal with you later."

She looks up at me and I just slowly nod. I pull her into a hug and whisper, "Get stuff together, you can stay at my place."

She just nods and goes inside without turning back.

Malcolm rounds on me. "What on earth were you thinking?"

"I was thinking, that we were hungry and had a fun night together."

"Together, you two aren't...together? Are you?"

"No, but what is your issue with it?" I ask. I'm tired of just seeing the glares and disappointed looks every time I'm around Annabeth.

"You are not good for her, you are..." He trails off and suddenly a guilty look crosses his face.

My mouth drops open and suddenly all the dots are connected in my brain. "You are jealous. You think I'm replacing you as her brother."

He shakes his head, "Forget it, you wouldn't understand anyway. You don't have a sister."

He turns to go back into the house, but I grab his arm to stop him. "Try me."

I look right into his eyes and witness the battle going on in his mind. Eventually takes a deep breath. "With everything going on with our parents, we were never close. Then in high school, she started to let me into her world. I was able to be there for her just a little bit. Then you waltzed into her life. It took me years to break through her walls, and then she willingly let them down for you. Can you understand how that is hard for me?"

I nod, "I can. That's how I felt when my mom first married Gabe, but then I saw that family persevered and then Gabe turned out to be a giant jerk. But I'd never do that. I can never be her brother." I fall silent.

"You can never be her brother because...you don't want to?" He asks, finishing my sentence for me. "A brother can never be more than just a friend."

"I will be whatever she needs me to be: brother, protected, therapist..."

"...boyfriend?" I shrug, neither confirming nor denying his accusation. "I just don't want to feel left out. I don't matter to her anymore."

"That's not true," I say quickly, "She needs her older brother."

He just stays silent for a minute. "I heard what you said to her about staying at your house tonight."

I just nod. "She doesn't have to," I say quickly.

"But she should, after what I said to her. Just be careful. She doesn't need another traumatic even right now."

"Gabe is out of town. I wouldn't let her near him." He nods in response but looks like he wasn't talking about Gabe. "You know nothing will happen," I insist, "My mom will be there."

Malcolm just laughs, "She wants you two to get together more than anything, so that is not very reassuring."

I frown, "What?"

"You can't tell?" He asks. "She was totally shipping you two on that night we all stayed over."

I groan, but before I can comment on that, Annabeth comes out with a duffle bag and climbs into the car. After the door shuts behind her, I look up at Malcolm. "One thing, You asked me to not cause her any more stress, is it fair of me to ask the same of you?"

He smiles, "I think that's fair." I climb into the car and we drive back to my place.

I park and offer to carry Annabeth's bag up the stairs for her.

"I'm not some damsel in distress," she protests.

"Chivalry is not dead and I was raised to be the perfect gentleman," I retaliate.

" _Perfect?_ "

I just smile and throw her duffle over my shoulder. After a few minutes of walking in silence, she asks timidly, "Did you and Malcolm fight?"

I sigh. 'Kind of. He is just worried about you and that he is losing status as your twin and older brother. But we're good now."

"Sure?" She looks up at me with fear in her eyes. "I can't stand to think...The two people who mean the most to me..."

"Don't worry about it, Okay? We are going to have a great night and forget about the troubles of the world."

"Alcohol?"

I shake my head and smile. "Percy style."

"So like a twelve-year-old would party?"

I smile really wide. "Duh."

We get to my apartment and I unlock the door. All the lights are off except for the one in the kitchen and the office. I poke my head in the office and see my mom sitting at the old computer, typing away furiously.

"Hey, Mom."

She looks up and shakes her head in surprise. "Percy! Hey! I wasn't expecting you home tonight and I was just kinda spacing out for a minute there. Sorry."

I Smile at her. "You're good. Ummm, Annabeth is going to spend the night here, if that's cool with you."

"Of course," Her smile gets really wide and genuine, "Is she here? Have you guys had dinner? Do you need anything?" She doesn't even give me a chance to answer before pushing past me and into the kitchen. I hear them start up a conversation and that brings a smile to my face. I walk past them and into my bedroom. I put Annabeth's bag on my bed and sit down. I pull a sweatshirt from my closet and put it on. Gabe must have not paid for heating again this month. I go and join the girls in the kitchen. My mom already has a pot out and has started making soup. Their conversation ceases as I sit down.

"What were you writing, Mom?" I ask casually.

"A little something I've been working on," she says with a smile.

"Another book?" I ask. She has been writing for a while but doesn't want to publish them because she is afraid Gabe might see. I've been trying to convince her to publish them with Mr. Blowfis's company. Life would get rough if Gabe saw her making a bunch of money on her own. Little does he know, she has started picking up hours at the local candy store and has a separate savings account.

"Have you written a lot of books?" Annabeth asks.

She shrugs, "A few. None of them are published."

Annabeth must be able to tell that this is a touchy subject because she doesn't ask any more questions. Eventually, we eat our soup and finish our conversation and my mom goes back to the office to write. Annabeth and I head back to my room.

"Are you cold?" I ask, "Gabe doesn't always pay for the heat since he's never around to be bothered by it."

She flushes slightly, "Yeah, it is kinda chilly in here." I toss her another one of my sweatshirts. "I still have your swimming one from the last time I stayed over."

I grin. "You have become quite the collector."

She blushes again. She is really adorable when flustered. "Do you want to work on the English project?"

My mouth drops open. "Why? It's not a school night and this is not a work sleepover."

She shrugs, "We are not doing anything and I figured you won't get it done otherwise."

I playfully hit her shoulder. "I'm not the slacker you believe I am."

"O-kay." She rolls her eyes. I pull out my computer and start typing.

_"The first quiz I took told me that my perfect wedding would be nothing fancy but signing some papers and getting drunk afterward. While I am not married, I do not think that this is correct. The idea of having a large white wedding in a fancy church is as exciting to me as it is to most people. Another quiz that I took told me that my eyes were a lovely light blue color based on my love of swimming and having fun. However, my eyes are a sea green color. This shows that not all stereotypes are true or to be trusted._

_A poll that I took part in, told me that I fit in with just 12% of people in that I prefer winter over summer. I think that this one is accurate because many people enjoy summer more due to no school and being outside and at the pool more. Another poll says that I agree with 67% of teenage boys that the most attractive part of a woman is her personality. I do not know whether to agree with this one or not. It seems that many boys around me care more about the body, but maybe I surround my self with people in the other 33%."_

Annabeth smiles at me. "I'm glad we got that finished and the sun has not even set yet. I'm going to go to the bathroom, I will be right back."

Once she is in the bathroom, I open the document again and add:

_"A final quiz that we took together was a couples compatibility test. Annabeth and I are not together but together we scored a '100% compatible happy life together'. Personally, I hope that this quiz is accurate, but I will let you know in a few months/years."_

Then I close my computer before she can see what I have written.

We head to the living room and, ignoring the smell of alcohol and pizza, I put in 'The Princess Bride', Annabeth's all-time favorite movie. I pop some popcorn and open the ice cream sitting in the freezer. We sit together on the couch and watch the movie and eat our snacks. Annabeth nearly has the movie memorized and quotes every character. Somehow the whole thing is still funny and enjoyable for her and I am certainly not complaining about getting to watch her enjoy the movie.

About halfway through, I poke Annabeth. "Hey, do you wanna go watch the sunset from the fire escape?"

Her face lights up like a lightbulb. "Duh."

I carefully pause the movie and we make our way back through my bedroom window. I set up the chairs like last time we were out here. The sun is a few minutes yet from setting but the sky is already filled with beautiful streaks of purple and pink and blue. She shivers slightly and I put my arm around her.

"So, your mom is really cool with me staying over." She tries to start up a conversation.

I shift. "Yeah, she is. She has always been understanding of this whole process and really my whole life. She is the hands-off kind of parent. But that has helped our relationship."

"It has?"

"Yes. I don't have a real curfew and she lets me go to parties."

"I bet that's because your relationship with her feels like more of a choice you get to make." She looks up at me and grins slightly. I can see it in her eyes though, that she is sad she does not have that relationship with her mom.

"And I keep my grades up and do well in swimming."

"But is that enough for her to let us sleep in the same room? The same bed? I know she allowed it last time because of..." She trails off and looks away.

"Gabe?" I ask. "Yeah, but she trusts me. I'm not the kind of person who would do anything I shouldn't. And if I was going to have sex, spending one night away from each other wouldn't stop that."

She flushes. "You say that like you- we are going to have...sex."

I shake my head. "I don't think I'm ready for that kind of intimacy. And besides, I'm not even in a relationship."

"So you are not a one night stand kinda guy?"

"Why? Are you?"

She gives me a playful shove. "Of course not, Seaweed Brain."

"Hmmmmm." I gently start playing with her hair and she starts to relax a bit into my arms. The sky seems to change colors every minute. First gold streaks appear in the sky, then clouds cover the sun and the whole sky becomes a deep red. Then pink and blue mix and turn the sky into carnival cotton candy. Then all the colors are reflected on the lake and the sun finally sets. The sky turns a midnight indigo color and the stars appear. We sit there in silence for a few minutes. I play with her hair and think about how romantic this whole setting is. I wonder if I will ever get a real chance to be with the girl of my dreams.

In the morning, I wake up in my bed with my arm around Annabeth. I blink and I see that she is awake and playing on her phone. I stretch and she looks up at me.

"Good morning, Seaweed Brain."

"Good morning, Wise Girl. How long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes."

"You could have woken me up or at least left the bed. "

She grins, "But I didn't want to wake you."

"Well, I'm awake now." I stand up. She follows me into the kitchen where my mom has blue waffles already sitting on the table. We sit. "Thanks, Mom."

She smiles down at me. "Of course, Sweetie. Did you have a nice night?"

"Yeah, we watched the Princess Bride."

"That's good. What are your plans for the day?"

I look over at Annabeth, who answers. "Well, I'll probably go home soon. Homework and such. I think I'm on to babysit this afternoon too."

My mom nods. "Okay. Well, Percy can drive you home whenever. I'll just be here writing and such."

She gets up and departs to her office. I get up and follow her. "How was your night, mom?"

She looks up at me. "Was that the question that you had to follow me to my office to ask me?"

I shrug. "You left the kitchen before I could ask."

"It was lovely." She paused and looked up at me. "Are you and Annabeth together?"

"What? I- no... Why would you think that?" I sputter. I know I've messed this up., My face is red.

She just smiles. "You treat her like your girlfriend."

"I don't- I- She's not my girlfriend."

"Yet." She swivels her chair around to face her computer and she starts typing. "Maybe I shouldn't let you two sleep in the same room anymore."

I groan. "Come on, mom. You know as well as I do that that wouldn't do anything and besides, we are not together. We have a purely platonic relationship."

"Keep telling yourself that, Honey."

"Moooooom." I protest, but it's no use. When my mom has her mind set, there is no persuading her. I leave and rejoin Annabeth in the kitchen once my cheeks have returned to their normal color.


	12. Not Dead Yet

God to my goddess

Chapter 12

Annabeth's POV

The first bell rings and I push my way to English class. Normally Percy would walk with me to English, but he didn't sleepover last night and I'm yet to see him this morning. I enter the classroom and sit in my normal desk in between Thalia, who is surprisingly early, and Percy, who is surprisingly late.

Thalia looks up at me, headphones in and gives me a quick grin before returning to whatever she was doing on her phone. I return the grin and pull out my notebook for this class.

"Oh my gosh." I hear one of the girls in the room say. I look up. They are staring open-mouthed at the door. I turn to look at the door. My hand flies to my mouth in shock, knocking my notebook off my desk. Luke is back. He looks perfectly healthy other than the fact that he is in a wheelchair. His hair is neatly cut and combed back and there is a lot more color in his face then there was when we visited him at the hospital. He sees me and his face lights up. I can't do much more than stare in awe.

He rolls over to the desk where Percy would normally sit. "Hey, Annabeth."

"Hi, Luke." I know my voice comes out in barely more than a whisper, but I don't care enough to try harder.

He carefully moves the chair out of the way so he can roll right into place. He sets his backpack next to the desk and bends over to pick up my fallen notebook. "You dropped this."

I take it from him and set it on my desk. "Hi, Luke-I mean, what are you doing here? I didn't think you were out of the hospital already?"

"I was feeling fit as a fiddle, you know, apart from not being able to feel my own legs, so they let me go. And I thought, what better way to start to make up for the accident to you than to accompany you to your classes?" He gives me the same classy, cheesy grin that he gave me at the age of seven when he convinced me to go AWOL with him due to mommy problems.

"You really don't have to do that, Luke. You don't have to make it up to me. I don't blame you and it's not like we are pressing charges."

"But won't you let me make it up to you? It would mean a lot and it would make me feel a lot better."

Before I can respond, Mr. Blowfis starts class. While he is talking, Luke leans over and whispers, "Come on Bethy. It will be like olden days. Let me take you to get a bite to eat after school or something."

I just shake my head and start to copy down the notes on the board. I force myself to remain calm and not to let the dark thoughts take over. The PTSD therapist at the hospital told me to try breathing to prevent a 'panic surge' as Thalia dubbed my freak out sessions. I start to breathe slowly but the only thought that comes to mind is how I really wish Percy were here.

"We can go to that one place you've always loved, Andie & Sons? Or get some ice cream and take a walk in the park? I know we are not close, not after the fight we had, but consider this my apology. Please give me a second chance to get to know you again. You were my best friend, Bethy."

"Mr. Castellan, do you have something to share with the whole class?" Mr. Blowfis calls from the front of the room.

"No, sir."

"Then I suggest that you don't start off your semester with detention. Welcome back, by the way." He returns to the notes on the board. I hear Thalia snicker quietly next to me.

A ball of paper lands on my desk. I unfold it.

" _Come on, Bethy. Don't leave me hanging here. What will it be? You gonna let me finally make up all of my past mistakes towards you? or You gonna stay a cold-hearted chick?"_

I feel my pulse quicken and by breathing shorten. I close my eyes and try to focus. _Focus on your breathing, Annie. In for seven, hold for four, out for eight._ Another ball of paper hits my hands. I open my eyes and unfurl the second note.

_"You okay, Annie?"_

I look over at Thalia on my left and shake my head slowly. "Come on." She grips my arm tightly and leads me past Luke and into the hall. Mr. Blowfis does not even acknowledge our exit but I know he saw it. Once in the hallway, she releases me and fishes around in her pockets for her phone. She presses a few buttons and holds the phone to her ear. "Come on, Percy. Pick up." After a moment, she angrily takes the phone from her ear, presses a button and holds it back up, redialing Percy.

"Annabeth?" I look up. Percy stands at the end of the hallway, backpack on and looking disheveled and out of breath as if he has run here. "What's going on?"

"Where were you?" Thalia angrily rounds on her cousin.

"I was taking care of something and ended up later than planned. What's going on?"

"Your buddy, Luke decided to show up today without warning and constantly pester Annabeth. I got her out of class, but I don't have your 'magic touch'."

"Luke is back?" He gently pulls me into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Annabeth. I know you were not ready for that."

I look up at him. "It's not only that, but he wouldn't leave me alone. It seems he hasn't changed. He's still the same pushy rude Luke we all know."

"I'm surprised I didn't hear he was back sooner. He's so popular, I thought it'd be all anyone could talk about."

I giggle slightly, "Apparently, he's not quite popular enough. Not as popular as you and Jason."

He laughs and I smile. I'm glad I made him laugh. "Well, being a team captain does that for you."

"Maybe I should become a captain then, too," I suggest.

"Of what? The Nerd Club?"

"Goode actually has one of those," I say, "and it sucks."

I take a step back from him. We notice that Thalia is no longer standing there.

"She must have gone back to class," Percy notices.

I shake my head. "And subject herself to Luke's questioning? Absolutely not. She's long gone from here."

He shrugs. "Well, do you want to follow her or go back to class?"

"Where would we go?"

"Let me show you." He flashes me a mischievous grin and pulls my hand.

We end up in the currently empty computer lab, and he pulls up Netflix for us. We spend the period laughing and enjoying ourselves. When we only have a few minutes before the bell rings, he shuts off the computer and we head out.

"Well, was that better than English?"

"Much," I reply, "Thanks."

"Anytime, for my favorite wise girl."

I know I blush, and then I curse myself for loving that he can make me blush.

At lunch, I sit down with Percy, Thalia, Nico, Jason, Hazel, along with the Stoll brothers.

"Did you guys hear, Luke is back!" Connor says excitedly.

"He's in a wheelchair, he'll never walk again, but no one really knows what happened," Travis adds.

"What are people saying happened?" asks Thalia with a quick glance at me and Percy.

"Everything from he picked a fight with the gang leader to he went for a swim in the frozen lake. He won't tell anyone."

"I wonder why," I muse more to myself than anything.

"Its probably really embarrassing or something," laughs Connor.

"Knowing Luke, it probably isn't anything at all. Maybe a car crash or something small. He likes to build up drama." Percy looks over at me and winks. I grin.

I let myself get absorbed in thought and lose track of the conversation. I push around the macaroni on my plate, not really wanting to eat it.

"Speak of the devil," says Thalia, giving me a kick under the table to jerk me back to reality. I look up and follow her gaze. She is looking at Luke who is wheeling himself right towards us.

I can tell that Percy is looking at me worriedly, but I force myself to not meet his gaze. Luke pulls up to the table. "Can I talk to you?"

I shift uncomfortably. "You can say what you need to say here."

He solemnly nods. "Look, I'm sorry about all of it. Starting at that party in your freshman year. What I did to you that night was awful, truly awful. Then with how I treated you at the hospital, not to mention putting you in the hospital in the first place. I'm sorry about pushing you in English class. That was wrong of me and I didn't respect your boundaries."

He looks at me hopefully, but I don't say anything. Thalia does. "Why were you in a junior level English class? You are a senior."

"I flunked English last year and had to retake it." He shrugs like it's no big deal.

I take a deep breath. "Look, Luke. I appreciate the apology, but I think it's best if you just stay away from me."

"For how long?"

"Until it gets better," Percy says. I look around the cafeteria and see that quite a few people have noticed the conversation and are staring.

Luke looks crestfallen. "But Bethy, what about all that we have been through together? I thought we had something special."

"We did, Luke, until you threw it all away at that party. You betrayed me."

"I was drunk! Bethy, I love you. I would never try to hurt you."

"Then you should not have gotten drunk." Percy stands as his words rip through Luke like daggers. "It's time for you to leave." Even Luke doesn't dare to object to Percy when he acts like this. The whole cafeteria watches as Luke wheels away.

"So, what happened between you two?" Connor asks without a moment's hesitation.

I sigh, "Over break, I almost got hit with a car and now I have an anxiety-driven reliance on Percy because he was the one who was there to save my life. Luke was the one driving the car."

Connor and Travis's jaws hit the floor. "Sick."

"And no one knows about it?"

"I haven't really told anybody," I explain, "not about how Luke is connected anyways."

"Your secret is safe with us," Connor says.

"No, it's not," Thalia contradicts with a roll of her eyes.

Travis rubs his hands together greedily. "Glad we are on the same page, Lia."

I roll my eyes and pop my headphones in to tune out the rest of the lunch period.

After school, I meet up with Malcolm and he drives me home. I have Percy on speed dial but that is the closest I am going to be to him tonight. We have spent the night away from each other, sure, but today I won't even see him after school. If I can do this, then I am finally getting back to normal.

I shoot Percy a text:

_Five mins apart. I'm not dead yet. U?_

He replies a minute later:

_If being apart isn't gonna kill me, practice will. Coach is killing us. Still alive, 4 now..._

I laugh quietly. We get home and I head up to my room to get started on homework. An hour later and I've barely made a dent into the pile, I sigh in defeat. I shoot Percy another text:

_U know what will kill me? This pile of homework. How was practice?_

He replies:

_Awful. Now I'm going to die of starvation._

_Eat then, Seaweed Brain._

_Wait really? Why didn't I think of that myself? You are such a Wise Girl._

I laugh and a smile crosses my face, but the glee is cut short by Erin's shrill voice.

"Annabeth? Can you come down here please?"

I groan but make my way downstairs.

"Your dad and I are going to his presentation dinner tonight, you are on the hook for the twins."

I sigh. I had completely forgotten about that and now I have to babysit with a mountain of homework upstairs. "Why not Malcolm, I mean, he is better with them than I am."

"Your brother is doing some other chores for us tonight. Unless you'd rather bring all of the summer lawn items from the attic and de-winterize them?"

I exhale. "No, I'll babysit. What time will you be home?"

"9:00 at the latest." She pats my cheek and walks out the doors. I make my way to the living room where Matthew and Bobby are sitting, gabbing to each other and playing with blocks. I collapse on the couch and turn on my phone. I have another text from Percy:

_These fries are definitely going to kill me._

I reply:

_Not if you stop eating so many. Now these kids are going to be the death of me. I'm on the hook for babysitting so I can't get my homework done._

_I believe in you._

I turn the tv on and watch whatever home-remodeling show happens to be on for a while. Bobby and Matthew are pretty independent when together. They don't really require much from me apart from feeding them and helping them up and down stairs. After I put them to bed, I go to my room, pop some headphones in and tackle that pile of homework. It is nearing one am when I finish.

_Just finished the homework, pretty sure it killed me_

_I feel honored to be the first that Ghost Annie contacts_

_Even ghosts have to sleep. Goodnight, Perce_

_Night Annie_


	13. The Realization

God to my goddess

Chapter 13

Annabeth's POV

"Who are you texting, girl?"

I look up from my phone. Thalia is inches from my face. I had been so lost in thought that I had not noticed her even approach. I quickly turn my phone off and hastily shove it in my pocket, though I realize as I do this that it makes me look guilty.

"No one. I was...looking at something."

"You were totally texting someone. A boy. You are blushing so hard honey." She reached down and pulls my hands from where my head was burrowed. "Girl, you have got it bad. So who was it?"

"No one, It was nothing," I softly protest, but I'm not even managing to convince myself. I was texting Percy and I'm sure I was grinning like an idiot the whole time. I just did not think that anyone else was around to see me.

Thalia nimbly slips her hand in my pocket and pulls out my phone. She only has to hit the power button and the most recent text from him shows up on the lock screen. "Seaweed Brain? Who is tha- oh. OHHHH!"

I bury my face in my hands once again in an attempt to hide the blush creeping up my face from my best friend. Unfortunately, I have never been very good at lying to Thalia or hiding things from her. When I finally look up at her again, her mouth is still open in shock.

She quickly sits on the bench next to me, despite having previously said that she will never be caught dead sitting on a frozen bench while there is snow on the ground. "How long, exactly, have you been keeping this from me? And when exactly, did you plan to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" I ask, almost genuinely confused as to what she thinks I have been keeping from her.

"Don't play dumb with me now, Annie."

"I don't-"

"Of course it had to be my cousin. Of course, in fact, I'm surprised I didn't expect this or even just figure it out sooner. With how much time you two have spent together, the nights in the same bed. Oh. My. Gods. You two have already slept together. It's a secret, isn't it? Too much of a secret for even your closest, bestest, and most trusted friend to know about."

"What in the world are you talking about, Thals?"

"You're in love with Percy Jackson!" She exclaims, a little too loudly.

"What? No, of course not. Don't be silly. It's not like that. wait- did you say 'sleep together'? As in...No we have not, thank you very much. I don't even like him."

She just smirks. "You're rambling, honey. And you only do that when you have something to hide."

"What do I have to hide?"

Thalia looks at me curiously. "So, you haven't even admitted it to yourself."

"Admitted what?" I know what she's talking about, but she is crazy, right?

"You like him, big time."

"Is it that obvious?"

She laughs, "It is majorly obvious to everyone else. I was so stupid to not put the pieces together until now. Malcolm probably has, and so has Percy, probably."

I groan. "Please tell me he is too thick headed to have noticed."

"I can't say for sure."

I slump further down on the bench and attempt to zipper my jacket over my face. "I think I'll go die now, thanks."

She pulls me back up. "Absolutely not. It's a perfectly good Friday afternoon, it would be a shame to waste it. And besides, when was the last time we had one on one time? Good quality girl time? We are long overdue. Let's go shopping. I desperately need some more jeans."

And with that, she is dragging me to her car and into the mall. She doesn't say any more about Percy, but I know that conversation will start back up again soon, especially since she drags me to her flat afterward and decides that I am sleeping over.

In her and Jason's flat, there are two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living space. Neither of them has a TV in their rooms so we camp in front of the one in the living room and pop in a scary movie per Thalia's request. While we were watching, Jason came in and went straight to his bedroom. After the movie, we went to Thalia's room. She shut the door behind her and when she turned around, she had a malicious glint in her eye.

"So, you and my cousin, huh?"

I groan.

"I notice that you have not been texting him at all tonight."

I shrug, "I told him that I was hanging out with you so I would not be able to text him."

"Text him now." With the way she is bouncing with excitement, she looks like a six-year-old being told they can jump on the bed.

"Whyyyyyyy?"

"Becuase you should try and get a love confession out of him?"

"But he doesn't like me. Ow!"

Thalia smacks me in the head. "Of course he does. Are you blind? That kid will do anything for you!"

"Because of the hospital situation! OW!"

She smacks me again. "If you are so sure that he does not like you like that, call him up. Ask him."

"That's dumb. I'm not gonna do that," I say, shoving my phone further in my pocket.

"Why? Are you scared of the answer?" She asks, pulling out her own phone and before I even realize what she is doing, she has called Percy and he has picked up. She puts him on speaker phone.

"Thalia? Did you need something?"

"Yes. I am here with Annabeth and she has a question for you."

I glare at Thalia. "You ask him."

"Okay, so apparently _I_ have a question for you."

"What is it?" Percy sounds hesitant and nervous on the other side of the line.

"We are having a bit of a debate over here and I was hoping you could settle it for us. Do you, or do you not like Annabeth?"

"I'm going to give you the same response I give you every time you ask me that question. I'm not going to answer it."

Thalia practically jumps off the bed in excitement. "See! He totally is in love with you!"

"You've asked him this before!" I ask, outraged.

"Well, yeah. I knew about this whole thing a while ago, but then I had thought it was still purely one-sided, but then a whole new piece was added to the puzzle but now I realize it goes both ways and this is the best day of my life." She trails off, mumbling under her breath and I pray to the gods that she was not speaking loud enough for the phone to pick up.

"Ima go now, bye Thals." I hear a click and know that Percy has hung up on his end. Thalia still seems to be in shock so I pull out my phone and shoot Percy a text:

_Sorry about that_

And a moment later:

_It's fine_

_Can we forget about that?_

_Add it to the list ;)_

I smile to myself. Percy just seems to get me.

"You're texting him, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"I can tell. You get a little smile on your face when you do."

"I do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Look at me with a straight face then. Prove that texting Percy does not make you feel all warm and bubbly inside."

I don't look up. I don't trust myself to not fall into a giggling mess. I fall back on the bed in exasperation. After a moment Thalia lies next to me. "At least you know he likes you too, right?"

"I just- I don't even know if I like him, and we didn't get confirmation about it from him, sooo..."

"Feelings, complicated. I get it."

"We already agreed to forget about the whole conversation. Me and Percy."

She sits up in bed in surprise. "When did you decide that?"

"Just now. We have several situations we kinda just mutually agreed to forget about. Several of them we just haven't mentioned since."

She lies back down. "So you two are close. You already have a great understanding of each other. Must be nice."

I look over at her on the bed next to me. She is staring at the ceiling deep in thought, an unusual thing for Thalia to be doing. "Thalia?"

"Hmmm?"

"What's it feel like to be in love?"

"Awesome."

"Really?"

She breaks eye contact with the ceiling and looks over at me. "I don't know. I've never been in love."

Jason chooses that moment to barge into the room. Both of our heads snap to the door, Thalia props herself up on her elbow to see over my head. He takes a moment to survey the scene in front of him. "Well, aren't you a pair."

"Got a problem?" Thalia asks with a smirk.

"Yeah, actually. I wanted to say goodnight and to tell you that you are being ridiculously loud for it being 1 am."

"Aren't the neighbors used to the late night loud noises by now?" Thalia asks, raising her eyebrows suggestively. "I certainly am. You can be very vocal."

"It's considered sexy," he promptly states.

"Piper didn't think so."

I sit up on my elbow. "What exactly happened between you and Piper?"

He sighs overdramatically and leans against Thalia's doorframe. "Prompted by your little spat, she interrupted things with me and Selena in the closet. Selena claimed to have been 'not trying to hurt her best friend' and she walked out on me. Piper called me that night to ask just how long this had been going on and with who and how much else of what you said to her was true. She said some things and then hung up on me. I deserved it all and the truth was going to come out somehow. Luckily, no one has looked into the drugs or where we live yet. I still have my full ride." He shrugs like it could have been worse.

"You've had a lot fewer visitors since then," Thalia points out.

"True."

"Is that a good thing?" I ask.

He shrugs again, "Depends on how you look at it. I hadn't really thought about it. I try to not think."

I glance up at Thalia over my shoulder and then back at Jason. "What's it like being in love?"

"Love? Gee, Annie, I don't know if I've ever been in love. With Pipes, it was sweet and I loved every minute with her, but she didn't make me whole. In the bed with girls, well, that's not really love either. I don't have much to base this conclusion off of since our parents were clearly not in love, but I'd imagine it's pretty great being in love." He shifts. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious," I say a little too quickly. Thalia raises an eyebrow at me and smirks.

"The real reason I came in here." He holds up a small baggie of pills and a juul. "Wanna?"

Thalia shakes her head. "I quit smoking, remember? And I only get high at parties."

"You sure?"

She nods but then looks at me. "Unless Annie wants to?"

I laugh. "Hard pass."

Jason grins at us. "Suit yourselves. I'll be outside." He shuts the door behind him.

The moment the door is shut, Thalia rounds on me. "What was that about?"

"What?" I ask, feigning innocence

"You know what. Asking the guy you are in love with's best friend for love advice? What in the world were you thinking?"

"I am not, and I will say it again, **_NOT_** in love with Percy Jackson."

She pats my shoulder. "You keep telling yourself that, honey."

We spend the rest of the night talking and just enjoying some quality girl-time.

The next morning, I say goodbye to Thalia and head back home. I go straight to my room to try and get started on homework. I pop my headphones in and turn the music up. The music is loud enough that I don't hear the knock on my door.

"Annabeth?"

"Ahh!" I shout, startled. I take my headphones out and turn around. Erin is standing in my doorway. "Hey, Erin."

"Hey, I just wanted to see if you wanted to grab a bite to eat. The boys are at my mom's house. We could go anywhere you wanted." She sounds hopeful.

"Sure." I give her a smile. "Let me get changed first."

She shuts the door behind her and I close my notebook. I put on some leggings and a t-shirt. I throw Percy's sweatshirt on as well and some tennis shoes. I attempt to run a brush through my hair, but it is too big of a mess so I just tie it back with a scrunchie. I throw my headphones around my neck and head downstairs.

Malcolm is sitting at the table eating pizza. He looks up at me. "Are you the reason Erin looks so happy?"

"Probably." I shrug. "We are going out to lunch."

"Fun. Where too?" He turns his attention back down to whatever he had been doing on his phone.

"I don't know, and she expects me to choose."

"You could try Tricounty Pizzaria down by the park. The pizza is really good and so is the view."

I look at him with a bit of surprise. "That's actually a really good idea and really helpful. Thanks, 'Com"

He looks back up at me. "Well, don't act too shocked. I do have good ideas sometimes. It's not all dust up here." He gestures to his head.

"Could've fooled me," I say with a laugh.

I start to head out the door. Malcolm calls after me, "Annie, it's been a while since you've called me 'Com."

"It's been a while since you and Percy were on good terms," I say, pausing to turn and look at him.

"You say that like the two are related." He sounds unsure and is talking slowly.

A small smile shows up on my face. "Maybe they are." I turn and walk out the door and do not look back, all dramatic and stuff.

I meet Erin in the car. "We should go to Tricounty Pizzeria near the park," I suggest to her. I know that she will go along with whatever I suggest just to seem more agreeable to me. She'll probably order the same thing as me too, just to show that we have more in common than I think we do.

"That sounds like a lovely idea, honey. I am just in the mood for some deep dish pizza." I roll my eyes, of course, she is.

It's not a long drive, but she doesn't say anything else. I think she is afraid she will run out of things to talk about when we actually get to lunch which is fine by me. I pop my headphones in and stare out the window. I shoot Percy a text:

_About to go to lunch with my mom. this might actually kill me._

_I believe in you ;)_

As we make our way into the building, I pop my headphones back around my neck. I don't need to give her anything extra to pick on me about today. We sit and decide to split a deep dish pizza: cheese and pepperoni with garlic crust.

"So, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"How's school?"

"Fine." I know I'm not doing my part engaging very well, but I really am not in the mood for this today.

"Annabeth, why did you agree to come if you weren't going to actually mentally be here?" She sounds impatient.

I shrug. "I just kinda said 'yes.'"

"Can you pretend to be engrossed in this conversation?"

"Are you going to continually pry into my life?" I shoot back.

"Annabeth, can you please-" She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "What do you want to talk about?"

I rack my brain and after a minute I ask: "Why did you marry Dad? He doesn't make a ton of money, so that can not have been it."

"I married your father because I fell in love with him," she says simply.

"But Mom had just died, how could you come in so soon?"

"When I first met your father, I didn't know the situation, other than he was a single father. When I found out, I asked him many many times if he thought he was really ready for another relationship."

That gave me a little more respect for her, but still. Now it's my turn to take a deep breath and still the anger that iss4 slowly building up inside of me. I change gears. "What is it like, being in love?"

She hesitates, clearly not expecting that question. "Well, it's when they are the person you imagine raising kids with and buying a house with and spontaneous dance parties or midnight trips to get food. They are the first person on your mind and they treat you right, how you deserve to be treated as the wonderful person you are. And it goes both ways, I don't think you can be in love with someone who isn't in love with you back. Why do you ask? Are you in love?"

I exhale, not realizing that I'd been holding my breath. "Wow, that was deep. And to answer your questions, I don't know."

She looks at me. "Percy." It's not a question, but it's not quite a statement either.

I look at the floor and my shoes and the table and the window and really anywhere that is not her.

"Annabeth, honey, it is okay to like someone. It's perfectly normal for someone your age."

"That's the problem, Erin. I don't want you to tell me that I am 'perfectly normal'. You are comparing me to others and not actually talking to me or helping me through anything. I'm always just another statistic to you, can't you see how that is hard on me?" I know I snapped and probably went too far, but I don't care. I'm done with being treated like crap by her. If she wants our relationship to work, she needs to work with me.

"Annabeth, honey, I didn't realize that was how you felt. I thought that you wanted to feel normal and not like you were different or weird." A weird look comes across her face, it almost looks like...genuine concern.

"I do want to feel normal..." I take a shaky breath and return my voice to a normal conversation level, "But that's not your job as a mom. You are supposed to be here for me. That's not what I need in a mom."

"I wish you would have said something sooner, Annabeth. All those years we lost..."

"That's the thing. I have been trying to tell you for several years now, but you never listen. Blowing it off as a 'perfectly normal act of rebellion: talking back'."

Now I have her full attention. She is silent for several long and agonizing minutes but I do not drop her gaze. She closes her eyes for a count to ten and then looks back at me. "So, how long have you know you liked him?"

I am definitely taken aback by this sudden change in tempo, but I am not going to complain. "I don't know. Thalia pointed it out last night, so I guess since then."

"What about him? Does he… you know, like you back?"

"Why in the world would he like someone like me?"

"He cares about you. He spends so much time with you. And you are an absolutely wonderful person, he would be a fool to not."

It's a bit of a stretch and I giggle slightly. She looks crestfallen. "What? Am I doing this wrong? I thought this is what you wanted me to say."

"No, no, no. Don't get me wrong, you are doing a lot better, but you are way, way, waaaay overdoing it."

She gives me a guilty grin but there is genuine happiness in her eyes. "Laying it on a bit thick, am I?"

"Just a bit." I hold up my fingers to show her just how thickly she is laying it on. _Thickly?_ I do not even know if that is a word or not but nevertheless, it makes me cringe.

We both burst into laughter and I think that this has to be the first time ever that we have both genuinely laughed together or enjoyed each other's presences.

She gently brushes the blonde bangs of her pixie cut out of her face. She adjusts her glasses and tries again. "I have a small feeling that Percy might like you too."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just the little things, honey. The way he looks at you when you aren't looking. The way he seems to linger after your touch. But maybe I am just making things up, it has been a while since your father, or anyone, was romantic to me. I'm probably just being hopeful since Malcolm seems to be getting nowhere in the love department."

I giggle. "Yeah, much to Malcolm's dismay, no one seems interested," I pause, remembering the many times Thalia has said something romantic or sexual about my twin.

"Poor Malcolm," she says with an uncharacteristic childlike giggle.

The pizza comes and conversation stalls for a while while we eat. She does not bring Percy up for the rest of lunch, which secretly makes me glad. I do not want to think about it more than I have to, it is really making my head spin.

My phone buzzes and I lift it to see who texted me. It's Hazel. My shoulders slump when it is not Percy and it takes me a minute to realize that I had been hoping it was him.

**Hey, I'm sorry this is so super late, but I really wanted to apologize for the way Piper treated you last week. It was not fair to you.**

I grimace. I don't really want to relive the fight and it's really not Hazel's place to say anything.

_It's fine. its not your fault._

**She was awful to you. She realizes it too, but she has a bad way of showing it.**

_?_

**You have noticed that she has not been at school. She is at home crying over her breakup, wishing she had realized sooner.**

_She's not mad at me?_

**She hates the world, but she is glad it's in the clear now. She is done with Jason but she hates everyone who hid this from her.**

_thats fair_

I run my fingers through my hair and sigh dramatically.

"You okay, honey?" Erin asks from the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I just," I pause and make the split-second decision to tell her about the fight between me and Piper. "I had a bad fight with Piper last week and one of our mutual friends is texting me to apologize for her."

"How bad was it?" She asks, actually sounding concerned for once.

"It was pretty bad. There was a lot of stuff she didn't know about her boyfriend, Jason, Thalia's brother, and she forced the truth out of me in front of about a hundred students. She thought she could make me look like an idiot but its a whole mess." I shake my head and let my hair fall in front of my face.

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Yes, but its just lunchtime detention, which is like taking out trash and stuff. She is more trouble because she started it and has been skipping most of her punishment."

"Why would she do that?"

"Because she is embarrassed. She was publicly denounced from her throne as the most popular and the whole school now knows that she's been lied too."

"Oh." She does not say anything more.

I look back at my phone and see Hazel has replied:

**Are you okay?**

_Little late for all this, but yes. Thalia and Percy made sure of that._

**I know I am late, but the guilt has only grown.**

_its fine_

**So, how is life?**

_Fine, I guess. I'm glad its the weekend._

**Me too.**

I do not respond but instead, lay my head on the car window and let my mind wander. _Hazel had just stood on the sidelines during the fight, didn't she? Isn't she still sitting with Piper's friends at lunch? So why in the world is she apologizing?_ As much as I try and focus and figure Hazel out, I can't get her to stay at the front of my mind. It is almost as if there is something more important going on. Percy. _No, no, no. This is not important. You definitely do not have a crush on Percy Jackson and there is absolutely no chance that he likes you. He is the most popular boy in the year, and you are, well the quiet nerdy girl. You really just need to forget about all of this. Thalia is just overexaggerating per usual and Erin said it herself, she just wants something romantic to be happening around her. You are being utterly ridiculous and you have more important things to be focusing on._ I shake the thought from my mind. If anything, the conversation with Erin made my point more concrete: I am not in love with anyone.


	14. The Return

God to my Goddess

Chapter 14

Annabeth's POV

On Monday, Percy comes to drive me to school. Thalia has agreed to not say anything more on the subject of me and Percy, at least, not in front of him, but she seems to have forgotten about that when she stands, waiting for me at the base of the stairs leading up to the school with a smirk on her face. Percy has been a complete gentleman about the weekend and does not bring it up at all or let it change the dynamic between us.

I get out of the car and walk straight to Thalia. "What was that?" I ask, outraged but not actually mad.

"What?" she asks, feigning innocence, "I didn't say anything, as we'd agreed."

"You do not seem to grasp the definition of the word 'subtle.'" I playfully slug her shoulder.

"All I want is for the two of you to move this relationship along. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes!" I exclaim exasperated, ignoring her puppy dog eyes. "He does not like me and anything that does happen is to happen without your interference, capiche?"

She narrows her eyes at me. "Fine."

Percy catches up with us and we all head up the stairs and into the school. Thalia pulls her phone out and sends someone a text. A moment later my phone dings: **riddle me this, whose sweatshirt r u wearing?**

I shove my phone back in my pocket and shoot a nasty look at Thalia. Sure, she is my best friend, but somedays she is just the worst.

Suddenly, Thalia is pulling me backward by the hood of Percy's sweatshirt and Percy is walking too close to me for me to be able to see anything. After we are in another hallway, she lets go of me.

"What the heck was that?" I spit out, clutching at my neck where I had been being choked by the sweatshirt.

Percy and Thalia exchange a worried glance before Thalia says, "Pipers back."

"What?" I exclaim.

"She and Drew and Hazel were all standing at the end of the hallway."

"And this gave you reason to drag me by my sweatshirt and practically kidnap me? That really hurt." I can not help but think back to my text conversation with Hazel earlier this weekend. I had thought that she was apologizing because she saw how awful Piper is and was done with her. I guess I read into it incorrectly.

"I did not pull you back by the hood of _YOUR_ sweatshirt," Thalia offers, putting her hands up in a ' _don't shoot me'_ gesture.

"And that makes this any better? I'm not a child. I can handle myself around Piper."

"I know." Percy finally speaks. "It was just instinct, I'm sorry."

I look at Percy and our eyes meet and stay there for a minute. I try and read what is on his mind, but all I see is worry in the way he shifts his eyebrows. I think he is trying to read me too. I wonder what he saw in my face.

Thalia must feel extremely awkward, or she just thinks that we are having a moment, because she says, "Oh, look. It's Nico." And unenthusiastically backs away.

Percy finally breaks our gaze and smiles warmly at me. He puts his arm around me and we walk like that back to my locker. As we round the corner, I see Piper standing there, the same as ever, trying to reclaim her position as queen of Goode. I turn and bury my face in Percy's side. "Nope. You were right, I can't do this."

He takes his arm from around me and reaches down to find my hand. He gives me a squeeze and whispers in my ear, "You absolutely can."

We make my way to my locker. Piper does not seem to see me and Percy so we head to English uninterrupted. After the whole thing with Luke on Thursday, Percy and I skipped English again on Friday. After school, we went to speak to Mr. Blowfis and got all caught up on the work and to fill him in on why we were not there.

Today, we get there before Luke, and Thalia and Percy sit on either side of me. As people file into the classroom, Luke does too. He glances over at us but goes to sit with some other, more welcoming people.

Mr. Blowfis looks up from his desk and sees the three of us actually in his class and smiles. He then claps his hands and starts class. "Alright, class. Today is the day. You get to turn in the project we have spent months on. I want you and your partner to come up and read the results from one of the quizzes or polls you examined together and then turn the project in."

When it came time for Percy and me to go, I read aloud: "One quiz that we took together was one about how much we knew about current politics and many of the questions were based around general knowledge of the presidency. We learned that we have very similar views regarding politics and that our general views and knowledge line up with 67% of the population."

Percy takes the paper from me once I am finished and he staples mine on top of his. He just printed his part out last night, even though we'd finished it that one night at his house, so I could not have stapled it together or had it ready before now.

At lunchtime, Hazel caught up to me and Thalia.

"Can I talk to you two?"

Thalia scowls. "What?"

"I just wanted to explain myself-"

"You don't have to," I cut her off. No one should ever be forced into an explanation. I have learned this through many times when I am freaking out and Percy has stopped asking why because more often than not, there is no reason.

"Yes she does, She owes us for standing by Piper," Thalia snips.

"No, Thals, she doesn't. She has her reasons for still being Piper's friend you are not entitled to learn them. She's your cousin, can't you trust her a bit?" I turn to Hazel, "You don't have to explain."

She has her eyes down at her feet, looking very bashful. "I want to explain. And I told myself that I wouldn't pay the cousin card, so don't let that change anything, Thalia." She takes a deep breath. "The night of the party when Piper got pushed in the hot tub. The guy who pushed her reached out the next day and apologized to her. Long story short, she set me up with him. She had a change of heart about him and I had the same outlook when this fight came around."

"But Piper hasn't apologized." Thalia seems to be in between shock and disgust.

"Not to you, but she did to me. And Drew, for getting her in trouble. She does feel awful."

Thalia just shakes her head. "But not about the right things. Does she feel sorry for the way she has treated you and Drew and Selena all these years? And me and Annie? Does she feel sorry for the setbacks she has caused to Annie's recovery? Does she feel downright awful for how she caused a scene in front of practically the whole school? For actually hitting us and dragging Nico in to break up the fight?"

"Are you even listening to me? She apologized for dragging Drew into this mess, claiming it was 'her fight to fight and not Drew's'. She apologized to Selena and me for not being a good enough friend, though she is still absolutely fumed at Selena for what she did. She did talk to Nico and made sure he was not in too much trouble or actually injured. She wants to come over and apologize to both of you for causing a scene and for hurting you but..." She trails off.

"But what's stopping her?" Thalia is spitting fire now. I quietly pick at my sandwich. I'm glad that Hazel is here trying to make things better and all, but can we not have an adult mature conversation for once? Thalia and Hazel are bickering like an old married couple.

"She doesn't want to hurt Annabeth anymore. She's afraid to cause more damage or make another scene. She is also secretly grateful that the truth came out. She is dealing with repercussions herself. She has lost her status and a ton of Instagram followers. She is also pushed around by a few jocks in the hall, who are 'willing to give her what Jason deprived her of'." She visibly grimaces at her own choice of words.

I chuckle quietly. Thalia rounds on me. "What is so funny?"

"Come on, Thals. You know Piper, she is not actually a bad person. Maybe she has good intentions. And no one deserves to be bullied."

Thalia sits back and folds her arms, deep in thought. after a minute the voices in her head seem to conclude. "I'll forgive Piper when she comes and gets on her knees herself and begs."

Hazel nods, accepting this answer. "But Piper will want an apology from the two of you as well. Nothing big and fancy or anything," she adds hastily after seeing the murderous look come across Thalia's face. "But you two did start this and are somewhat at fault for hiding stuff from her and such. Just a simple 'I'm sorry Piper' will work."

"Maybe." When it becomes clear that Thalia is done speaking Hazel stands up to leave.

"Hazel?" I call.

"Yeah?" She turns around to look at me.

"Why did Piper wait until now to come back? Rumors are flying and she is in a lot of trouble from skipping detention."

"She was embarrassed," she shrugs, "And she didn't want to face everyone with no friends. She spent time rebuilding friendships so she didn't have to face today alone. She has been doing her work and starts detention today. As you said, she has her reasons and I don't have to know them all. I just have to understand and be a good friend." And with that, she walks back across the cafeteria, ignoring all of the watchful eyes on her.

Thalia looks over at me. "You have such a big heart, Annie."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"One day, it will be your downfall. Your fatal flaw."

"Nah," I slug her in the shoulder playfully, "That is wanting to have a permanent impact on the world. This may be my tragic flaw."

"Still, are you so ready to forgive her?"

I shrug. "I'm not really sure, but I think that its easier to forgive and forget that continually deal with something like this."

"But what about all the harm she caused?"

"Jason's not mad. He is still intact. Piper is facing bullying and other repercussions from it. You know your cousin best, but would she hang around someone who was really that awful? Someone who still hadn't apologized to her brother? Someone who targets her family? Hazel's heart beats first for her family. You know this."

"I know, I just don't want to see you get hurt, Annie."

I give her a lopsided grin, "I am not a child. I can stand up for myself more than you seem to think."

"Fine," she grumbles, sensing that I do not want to talk about this anymore, "Let's change the topic. Let's talk about your boyfriend for a change."

"Absolutely not."

Percy's POV

For lunch, I end up in the lunch period studying for a history test that I know Annabeth is already prepared for. Keeping up with all the work from the honors classes I'm taking this semester has been harder than I'd predicted. Plus my Dyslexia makes it hard to memorize names and dates.

Someone slides into the seat next to me. I look up and see Malcolm. I pull my headphones out and whisper a greeting.

"Hey. Studying for history?"

"Yeah. I'm totally going to fail this test."

"Dude, don't worry too much about it. I took it this morning, it's not that bad. Just know who was on what side and who hated who."

I look up at him and shut my book. "Thanks."

"Yeah." We are both silent. Things are still a bit awkward between us even though we had made up about Annabeth. After a minute he shakes his head. "Right! The whole reason I came over." He nods towards the poster on the wall in front of us. "Prom is coming up. Are you going to take my sister?"

He says it so point-blank, I am slightly taken aback. "'Ummm. Yeah. I guess. I mean I have not asked her yet so she has not said yes yet, obviously. But yeah." I rub the back of my neck nervously. _Wow, I am not very smooth or good at this at all._

He giggles very uncharacteristically, earning himself a glare from the librarian. "Dude, you are hopeless. So how are you going to ask her?"

I shrug and my hand goes back up to massage the back of my neck. "I don't know man. I just realized I should ask her like last week and I haven't given it much thought. I still have time and I just want it to be special. And I, um, well do you have any suggestions?"

He claps me on the back. "Dude, at this point you probably know her better than me. Just make it a surprise. Don't hint to her that you're going to do it and don't tell Thalia."

The bell rings so we make out way into the hall. "I wouldn't dare tell Thalia. Before I could blink, the whole school would know."

He nods. "Just text me if you need anything or need to know anything for it. I can't wait." And with that, he turns and heads down a different hallway to whatever class he had next.

Annabeth is already seated when I make it to class. She looks up at me and smiles. "Ready for this test?"

"Absolutely not," I groan, "I am going to fail, though Malcolm says its really easy."

"You've been talking to Malcolm." It is not a question but more of a curious statement.

"Yeah, he came up to me in the library while I was studying. We chatted for a bit." I try not to make my statement too vague, I don't want her looking into it.

"What about?"

 _Shoot!_ "Nothing special, just school and stuff."

She nods and I take my seat next to her. Now that I have said out loud that I want to take Annabeth to prom, I can not get it off my mind. It feels so much more real now and I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to ask her or even keep this from her and Thalia. Luckily, we have a test in this class so I don't have to worry about bringing it up. Hazel walks into the room. I look up at her and give her a small smile which she does not return. I do not blame her, I just do not know why. Something is going on between her, Annabeth, Thalia and Piper. I just do not know all the details or at what stage they all are in. I hope they all makeup soon, it is really hard to see the people I have grown up with a fight with each other.

The teacher passes out the tests and we begin. After thirty agonizing minutes, the bell rings and I scramble for my bag to get out of the stiffy room. In the hall, I wait for Annabeth to walk her to Architecture before I head to swim practice.

"How was it?" I ask her, referring to the test.

"Eh, it was fine. I think I did well. How did you think it went?"

"Is it too late to drop out of high school?"

She playfully pushes me. "You'll be fine. Have a little faith, will ya?"

We arrive outside her classroom. "I'll see you after practice? Or is Malcolm taking you home?"

"I'll text you. Is Gabe home? Can we hang at your place?"

"I think that will work. I'll check. See you later."

She nods in response and heads to class.

I head down to the natatorium and set my bag down. During this period is when I get to be coached because after school is when I help coach others. The two seniors on our team this year are already changed and in the water. Coach Den is standing by the edge of the pool talking to them. He looks up at me. "Hey, Percy."

"Hey, Coach." His real name is Dennis, but because he is just that good at coaching us in the water and he holds many national records himself, we joke that Den is short for Poseidon. "I'll be right out." I head to the locker room and quickly put my suit on.

It's a quiet practice as it usually is with just me and the two seniors and Coach. When the final school bell rings, the seniors get out of the pool and change. Their practice is technically over, but most days they say and just do laps in one of the lanes. Today is not one of those days. I throw on some swim trunks and a t-shirt as the other members of the team file in. After they change and get in the water, I take a group of them and have them practice their starts off the diving blocks. About thirty minutes into practice, I notice Annabeth sitting on the bleachers reading like she normally does when she waits for me to drive her home after school. She looks up at me and I smile at her. I guess that means she has confirmed that she is coming over, or at least that I am driving her home.

After practice is over, I throw a towel around my neck to try and dry my hair and stop the water from dripping down my back. I make my way to the glass fence thing that separates the pool floor and the bleachers. "Hey."

She quickly shuts her book and looks up at me. "Hey." I notice her blush and I flashback to the phone call with Annabeth and Thalia Friday night. _Is there really a chance that she likes me too?_

"So, my house?"

She grins. "Yup."

"Sweet. Let me go change and we can get out of here." I head into the locker room.

Another one of the juniors, Grover, who I have known almost all my life claps me on the shoulder. "So, she has been waiting for you after every practice recently, is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

"Good practice, today." I nod at him with a smirk. He broke both of his legs a few months back and has spent all practices since out of the water or doing physical therapy.

"Like you would know, you were with the divers today. I was in the pool."

"I have two eyes for a reason," I say, rolling my eyes as I pull my shirt off and put on a dry t-shirt. "And I saw the progress you have made."

"Whatever, man. I'll see you around." I nod and quickly finish changing.

I throw my bag over my shoulder and find Annabeth in the same place, head buried back in her book.

"Hey, Wise Girl. Ready?" She looks up at me startled, but grabs her bag and follows me. "So, what were you reading?"

"Oh, just re-reading an old series, "Peter Johnson", about the Greek Gods and such."

"Is it any good?"

"Yeah, I really like it, and so do a lot of other people." She tucks a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Maybe I should read it."

She giggles, "Yeah, it would be perfect for you since the main audience is twelve-year-old boys."

"Darn," I say with fake disappointment, "So it is above my reading level."

I love the smile that comes over her face.

We get in my car and I drive us home. We spend the night hanging out, doing homework and playing card games with my mom. It is the most casual fun I have had with her in a while. We sit and watch the sunset on the fire escape and then curl up in my bed together for a good night's sleep.


	15. The Prom

God to my Goddess

Chapter 15

Percy's POV

This is it. The big day. I nervously smooth down my blue button-down shirt. My mom bought me a new one just for this occasion.

"You look fine, stop doing that." Thalia pins my shaking hands down at my sides. I am unsure how she is so calm about this, seeing as I only told her half an hour ago. Of course, she was super excited at the fact that I was actually going to do it, but she was also extremely angry at me for keeping this secret for her. That is a lot of wild emotions that she must be keeping in check to appear this calm right now.

"She'll be here any minute!" I protest, "And I'm so nervous. What if she says no? Or doesn't like my big production? What if I'm screwed forever?"

"Look at this place," she gestures wildly to all the decorations we'd put up. "She'll love it, or else."

I laugh. Of course, Thalia would say that as she did most of the decorating. And it does look amazing. Blue and pink streamers decorated every wall in the kitchen and some. My mom had somehow found a way to dim the kitchen lights and make them give off a blue glow. Thalia set up a few flashlights to work as spotlights aimed at the display on the kitchen table. The whole house was clean, despite being a total disaster an hour ago from my baking fiasco. But it looks like everything is going to work out. The cake sits centered on the table with the word "Prom?" on it. behind it sits a pink poster where I'd carefully written the words "Every prince needs a Princess and every Princess a crown." A gorgeous crown sits on its own little pedestal next to the cake and the rest of the table is littered with meticulously placed pink and blue feather boas.

I pull out my phone and read back through my texts with Annabeth to make sure I hadn't given anything away.

_Hey, do you and Malcolm want to come over and hang with me and Thalia this afternoon at my place?_

**Yea! What time?**

_3 ish :)_

**We'll be there**

"Aunt Sally? He's fidgeting again," Thalia calls as she smacks my hand away from adjusting another feather boa.

My mom appears out of a not very well lit corner with a camera in her hand. "Percy, stop that. You will be fine."

Before I can respond, my phone buzzes with a text from Malcolm letting me know that they just parked.

"They're here!" I panic, "Places everybody!"

My mom goes back into the entryway, ready to take pictures. Thalia stands in the kitchen behind the display, phone in hand, ready to record the whole thing. I make my way to the door to answer when they knock.

I hear the echoes of chatter from the stairwell and then they are right outside our door. Someone knocks and I open it.

"Hello," I say, "Come on it. " I hold the door open and she nervously walks in.

"Hi, Percy. What's going on? Why are all the lights off?"

Malcolm walks in behind her and he gives me a silent fist-bump. I grab Annabeth's hand and pull her around the corner. She lets go of my hand as hers fly to her face. She gasps and I see her read the poster and take in everything else. Tears start to well up in her eyes. I walk over and grab the crown from the table and hold it out to her. "Annabeth, will you go to prom with me?"

"Percy," she breathes and in that one word I know.

I reach out and grab her hand and pull her closer to me. "Say it."

"Yes."

I arrange the crown in her hair and my mom cheers. "Go stand next to him, honey. That's good, right there. Smile! Now move a bit so I can see you two with the cake and poster. There. Look at me! Smile!"

Once my mom is done taking the millions of photos that she wants, we cut the cake. We turn more lights on, so it doesn't seem as dark in the kitchen. Thalia shows us the video she took and posted on snapchat. My mom scrolls through the pictures for us and lets Annabeth choose the one she wants to keep. Malcolm sits quietly and does not engage much, but I know he is glad I finally asked her. And I am just glad Thalia has finally forgiven me for not telling her about the prom-posal sooner.

For whatever reason, my hands are not shaking as I pull into Annabeth's driveway. I poll down the sun visor and check my hair in the little mirror. I climb out of the car and smooth my suit jacket. I reach back around and grab the box with the matching corsages I bought for us. I shut and lock the car and go to take a deep breath when I realize I am not nervous in the slightest, just excited. I ring the bell, but it seems as though Erin was waiting for me because the door opens right away.

"Come in, come in." She gives me a hug, "Oh, it is so good to see you, Percy. And my, don't you look nice. The girls are upstairs getting ready. They should be down any second."

I look over at Malcolm who is sitting at the table, also in a nice suit. All of my cousins are going together as a group. Annabeth and Malcolm are joining us. Since Nico is only a freshman, he could only go with a date and none of us could bring him since we are related, so he found an upperclassman to go with: Selena, one of Annabeth's good friends. It's the same story with Hazel, only Malcolm is taking her. Neither of them is actually going together as dates or even as friends. Thalia and Jason are going stag.

"Girls, are you ready yet? Percy is here, so we can get pictures done before you leave for dinner," Erin calls up the stairs.

"Just one more minute," Thalia calls back.

Erin sighs and goes back to pacing the floor. She is way more nervous about this than either me or Malcolm for whatever reason.

"Mom," Malcolm says, "Stop, it will be okay."

"I know, I know. But I just wish I could be up there with them and helping them get ready."

"We're ready!" Thalia calls. Malcolm, Erin and I gather around the bottom of the staircase. Thalia emerges first. My first thought is that her outfit does not look very different from her day to day attire. Her dress is all black with a few silver accents. The slit up the middle shows off her fishnet stockings which make their way down to platform boots. The dress does not have a belt, but instead, the shoulder straps continue to snake their way down the dress. The dress itself stops in a sweetheart neckline. There seem to be three straps coming off the top of the dress: one on each shoulder that split into two and one in the middle connecting to the choker made out of the same straps. She has her hair pulled into some sort of updo and accented the whole ensemble with black, fingerless gloves.

Then Annabeth appears at the top of the stairs and the sight takes my breath away. Her dress is a gorgeous sea-green color. 'The color of my eyes' is what she had told me, so I knew what color tie to get. I think the color is spot on. The bodice of the dress looks like it was wrapped around with the material starting at the bottom and the wrap just continues up and over one shoulder. It perfectly hugs her small waist and accents her curves. The waistline is slanted the same direction as the one strap and looks like it is made of silver and white pearl beads. From there down, the same light anything green fabric is draped in layers of ruffles, also slanted down to the left until the dress ends at her knees. Simple silver heals accent the beads on her waistline. Her hair is twisted up similarly to Thalia's and she is wearing the crown I gave her with the prom-posal. She is wearing simple makeup that enhances her facial features, Thalia's doing I would assume.

I am speechless. "Annabeth… you look gorgeous."

She blushes and twirls her skirt a bit. "You look nice, too."

I hold out the box with the corsages. I carefully place hers on her wrist. My mom had helped me pick out the color and it went perfectly with the dress. She gently tucks mine into my breast pocket. I am so glad that Erin is taking pictures of this whole thing because I know that I will keep and frame one with us giving each other the corsages.

I turn to Thalia. "You look great too, Thals."

She twirls too and flashes me a grin and I notice that she is putting that eyeliner kit she was given for Christmas to good use.

Malcolm adjusts the watch on his wrist. "Hey guys, we need to leave if we want to get to the restaurant in time."

I hold out my arm to Annabeth, "M'lady?"

She giggles, but grabs it and allows me to escort her to the car. Malcolm and Thalia get in the back and Erin gets in the car behind us. She is going to come to the restaurant with us to take pictures of everybody.

Everyone is already there: Jason, Hazel, and Nico and Will. The four of us head to the table to set our stuff down. Then we head to the back to take all the pictures you could ever dream of. We get some all together posing by the lake. Then we all get individual photos, and then some with just me and my cousins. We take several attempts at a jump shot and, of course, many with just me and Annabeth or Nico and Will. Then, with a promise to get us all of the photos by tomorrow, Erin left and we all went inside to enjoy dinner.

After dinner, we pull into the parking lot of Goode. We all get out of our cars and meet up. Hazel is wearing a simple periwinkle dress that really goes well with her skin tone. Nico hangs back to wait for Selena so he can get in, but the rest of us present our tickets and are directed down the hallway towards the gym. The theme for the prom this year is 'Fairytales', so everything is decked out with rolling hills, bright colors and the occasional unicorn painted on the wall.

We make our way to the gym and just standing in the doorway where the double doors are propped open gives me chills. The inside of the gym is very cleanly decorated to look like the inside of a castle straight out of a storybook. There are more colorful streamers draping from the ceiling along with strings of fairy light. Stone wallpaper line the room with the occasional window painted on through which you can see more mythical creatures. At one end of the room are some tables with purple table cloths on them and a royal buffet of food. Plush couches line the outside of the room as well for when you just want to kick back a moment. The live band playing has everyone wearing court jester outfits and the prom committee is in full-length gowns mimicking their favorite Disney princesses or suits for the princes.

A popular upbeat song comes on and the girls toss their shoes onto a growing pile in one corner and drag the rest of us on to the dance floor. Within minutes, all of us are sweaty messes, but we are not slowing down. I notice Drew and Piper sitting on one of the couches, watching the dance floor. Head cheerleader, Clarise, pushes her way in between Jason and I ann starts to show off some of her choice dance moves. I just turn my back so I face Annabeth and keep dancing to song after song. At some point, I see Reyna, so I know that some people from the other school have made there way here.

"Hey, Reyna," I shout over the music as she makes her way to me.

"Hey, Percy! Nice party! Wanna dance with me?"

"You can join us, sure!" I shout back. I know that that is not what she was really asking for, but I came here with Annabeth and I want to try and move our relationship out of just being friends.

Luckily she seems to accept my answer and joins the crowd as we jump to the beat.

After the song ends, the lead guitarist steps up the mic. "Alright, Goode! How y'all doin' tonight?" he tips the microphone towards us and the scream that follows is deafening. "That is good to hear! Alright, this next one is for all the couples out there. Or just grab your self a dance partner. Or just grab your self a slice of cake and sit this one out."

As the first few chords are played I gently push Thalia aside and grab Annabeth's hand. "May I have this dance, M'lady?"

She just smiles, "Oh Seaweed Brain." I pull her into my arms and we start to sway.

"How are you doing? I mean this is a large crowd and it's very loud. You all good?" I need to make sure she is alright before we get too lost in the music.

"I am just perfect." I can barely make out her words over the music.

I pull her tighter as we sway and then the song is over all too soon. Every else floods back onto the dance floor and Annabeth goes back to jumping up and down t the beat with her friends. I stand back a take a minute just watching her. I love the way her skirt floats through the air, following her motions up and down. I love the smile on her face as she shouts the words at the top of her lungs, not caring who is watching. I love the way her feet join the beat, shoes discarded ages ago.

"Coming?" Suddenly, Annabeth is right in front of me. She grabs my hands and pulls me into the crowd. I give in to the music and start to dance with her and Jason and Hazel.

Third-person POV

Nico sits at one of the tables off to the side, a plate with a barely eaten slice of cake sits next to him.

"Hey, Cuz." Thalia plops herself down next to him. "You gonna eat that?"

He does not say anything but just numbly pushes the plate towards her. She picks up the fork but frowns at him. "What's up?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." When he does not respond, she prods again, "Is it because you are a freshman at a party for Juniors and Seniors? You feel out of place? None of your friends are here?"

"That's why I'm here, all of my friends are here." He sounds really angry.

"Or is someone not seeing the way you look at them?" He shifts uncomfortably and she knows she has got it.

"It's nothing. I told you not to worry about it, about me. And besides, it's not like I stand a chance."

"Don't say that. That's what Annabeth said and look where she is now, at prom with the guy of her dreams."

He rolls his eyes. "They're not even technically together."

"Way to be a Debbie Downer."

"I'm just being realistic. Maybe I should go get myself run over with a car so he can-" Even in the dim light, she can him flush.

"It's Will, isn't it?"

He looks up at her. "You're not surprised?"

"That you're gay? Of course not! We grew up together, you think I didn't know. Gods, I probably knew before you."

He groans and leans so far back in his chair that the front legs lift off the ground. "Was I that obvious?"

"Don't ask me. I'm not very good at this whole 'subtle' thing."

Despite the tension in the air, he laughs. "Good to know."

"So, are you gonna do it?" she asks suggestively.

"Do what?"

"Ask him to dance with you, the next slow song."

"Are you crazy?" He sits up in his chair to look at her. "I can't do that, not with everyone watching."

"The worst that can happen is you get turned down, and that's not going to happen. Besides, you're with the popular guys, remember? Do you really think Percy and Jason are going to let people make fun of you because you are gay?"

He hangs his head for a moment before replying, "Do you really think he won't turn me down?"

She pauses to think. "Yes. That look you give him when he's not looking? That is a two-way street, my friend."

"Really? Okay, fine, I'll do it. But if the whole thing crashes and burns around me, that's on you."

"Well of course." She picks up the now empty plate and stands to walk away.

"Thals?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you know I was gay?"

"Takes one to know one, I guess." And with that, she disappears into the crowd of people exiting the dance floor.

Hazel exits the dance floor after the song ends to get a glass of water. She notices Piper and Drew sitting on a couch along the edge of the floor, no doubt getting a laugh out of the way people were dancing. After grabbing some water, she carefully makes her way over to them.

"Hey, guys."

"Hi, Hazel."

Hazel sits on the couch next to them. "It doesn't look like you guys are having the greatest time. This is prom, after all."

"We are having fun watching people." Piper crosses her legs and folds her arms.

"We just don't feel like going out there and having fun with all the people who currently hate us," Drew explains.

Hazel scoots a little closer. "I guarantee that 99% of those people don't hate you."

"Name one."

"Me, Percy, Charlie..."

"but Jason and Annabeth do."

"See, I don't think so. I know Jason, I have my whole life and he is quick to move on. And Annabeth, well, Percy and Thalia helped her get over the initial shock and you and I both know that she has the most forgiving heart of all of us." She puts her hand on Piper's shoulder. "Do you really want to let the possibility of not getting along with two people keep you from enjoying your prom?"

Both Drew and Piper give Hazel a quizzical look. Drew scoffs, "You would understand if you hadn't gone running to play nurse to them as well."

"Enough." Piper's words startle them both. "Maybe later, Hazel. But thanks."

Hazel nods and heads back towards the dancefloor. A figure grabs her arm to stop her.

"Frank? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"It’s a dance, kids from my school always make their way to these things. What are you doing here?"

"Dancing...?" A light smile tips her lips.

"You know that's not what I meant. Are you here with someone? You have to be, right? Freshman aren’t allowed at these things alone."

"Technically yes, but that was just to get me in past the doors."

"In that case, want to dance?" Without waiting for an answer, he gently pulls her onto the dance floor. It was not a slow song playing by any means, but that did not seem to matter. He clasps her tiny hands in his giant ones, and they join the crowd in jumping to the beat. He spins her and swings her around until neither of them has the energy to wipe the grins off their faces.

"You look beautiful, by the way," He says as they exit the dance floor.

"You really think so?" She blushes, but he can tell she really appreciates the compliment.

"Of course." He starts to say something else, but another song starts, and Hazel knows all the words to it. She practically drags him to the middle of the dance floor, and they join some of Hazel's friends. Frank spots Reyna in the crowd, stealing the spotlight and the gazes of all the boys around her as she dances solo. Hazel and Thalia start doing this synchronized hip hop dance that they choreographed as children and Frank claps along. Within seconds the girls are in the middle of a dance circle with every cheering them on and clapping to the beat. At one point, they skip around the circle taking high-fives from everyone. At the end of the song, another one starts up instantly and someone else takes their place in the center of the circle.

Another slow song comes on and Frank gabs Hazel's hand. "May I?"

They start to dance. They do not sway like Percy and Annabeth a few feet over, but instead almost ballroom dance as they talk.

"Hazel?"

"Yeah?" She asks, more focused on not messing up the dance steps than anything else.

Frank loses focus for a second and ends up tripping over his own feet. They both giggle as he regains his footing.

"Would you be interested in more than just coffee dates?"

"What?" She asks, clearly shocked.

"Well, we've been going on little coffee dates for a while and I, well, I want to actually take you on a proper date."

She flushes. "Yeah, Frank. I'd like that."

He looks ecstatic. "Are you for real?"

"Yes! I'm serious. I really like you, Frank."

With neither of them focusing on their footwork, they end up tripping over each other's feet and end up on the floor together in a tangled mess.

"Are you okay?" Hazel asks worriedly from where she had fallen on top of Frank.

"Looks like you fell for me pretty hard, didn't ya?"

This like results in both cracking up and many of the people around them laughing as well.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Hazel replies, "It's a good thing you were there to catch me."

She gets up and brushes her dress off before getting to her feet. "Gods, I am such a klutz. I am so sorry, are you okay?" Frank asks, so worried that he has ruined it with this girl.

"It is all good. Don’t worry about me, I'm not the one who landed on the floor."

Percy pushes his way through the crowd watching them to stand next to Hazel. "Are you okay? What happened? Who's this?" Much to Hazel and Frank's relief, he does not sound angry at Frank. Protective Big Brother Percy stays hidden while Concerned Cousin Percy is at the front.

"I'm all good. We just kinda tripped over each other's feet. This is Frank, my...friend." She blushes a little knowing that Frank is definitely more than a friend, but she is almost positive that it can not be seen through the combination of dim lights and her dark skin.

Percy nods and offers a hand to help frank up off the ground. As if on cue, the band starts the next song and people go back to dancing instead of staring at the fallen couple. Frank leads Hazel off the dance floor and into the hallway where it is significantly cooler and quieter. They sit on the floor, doing their best to ignore the couple making out across the hallway right in front of them.

"Well, that was certainly something," Frank comments to break the silence, "Quite humiliating, but an experience nonetheless."

"We'll be able to get a good laugh out of it in a few days."

And they descend into silence once again. Hazel can practically hear the thoughts running ramped in Frank's mind. His breathing steadily increases, as though he is getting nervous about something.

"I meant what I said back there, a- about us and going on a real date," Hazel says shyly in an attempt to calm his nerves, if this is what he is nervous about.

"Really? Even after all that? You'd be willing to...?"

"Of course I would. You are such a great guy, I know you weren’t trying to humiliate me with that scene or anything."

He breathes out a sigh of relief. "Well, that is certainly good to hear."

Hazel stands up and holds out her hand to him. "Come on, lets go have some fun. You can introduce me to all of your friends who are here and you can meet the rest of my family."

"Your family?"

"My cousins all go to Goode. You met Percy, the one who helped you up. Thalia was one of the ones who got Piper out of the hot tub when you pushed her. And you have to meet my brother, Nico. He's a freshman like me and he's super sweet. And then Thalia's brother, Jason, the popular captain of the football team stereotype. And Percy's, well, his soon-to-be girlfriend, Annabeth."

"Big family?"

She shrugs. "Technically, they are my step-family, but they are my only family and they are good to me."

He just nods. 'Not many kids from my school are here, actually. Not that many who are worth meeting anyways. There's Reyna, the smart one that everyone goes after. And Octavian, who is into palm readings and tarot cards. He's a little crazy but not bad once you know him.

He reaches up and takes her still outstretched hand and together they walk back into the gym.

The band stats up another slow song and on impulse, Piper stands.

"Where do you think you are going?" Drew demands.

"I'm taking Hazel's advice. I'm not going to throw this night away and I have some people I need to talk to."

"You can't be serious." Drew stands and grabs her arm to try and stop Piper from leaving, "You're going to make this worse and ruin someone's night."

"And sitting here is going to ruin mine." Piper wrenches her arm away from Drew.

"I'm on your side here, Pipes, I just don't want you to do something you might regret."

"Thanks, Drew. And I won't. Besides, I wouldn't want all the time and effort that went into this look tonight to go to waste." With a smirk, she turns towards the dancefloor. It was a joke, of course. After years of being ogled for her body, she started dressing down. She was wearing a nude two-piece dress. The top was a halter completely covered in sparkles and the bottom was a short tuel skirt. She wore matching nude pumps (Of course, she still has her shoes on), but her hair was in its usual style with feathers braided into it. No effort had gone into her makeup and she had her cheerleading jacket on because she was always cold.

As soon as she caught sight of Jason, she paused. He had given this slow dance to his sister and she was hesitant to break it up. Piper can appreciate a sibling friendship as much as a relationship, but it was too late to back down now.

"Excuse me, can I cut in?" She does not even look at Thalia, but instead right into Jason's eyes.

"Of course," He replies.

"You owe me a dance, bro," is Thalia's only protest before disappearing into the crowd.

Jason, being the gentleman he is, picks up her hands and starts to lead them in a dance, but he waits for her to lead the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Jason-" she begins, but he cuts her off.

"You don't have to apologize, Piper. I'm the one who cheated I'm in the wrong here, not you."

"But I'm sorry about your situation and how I was oblivious to it all."

"I tried to keep it from you, Piper. Stop trying to pin the blame on yourself, please. You don't deserve that and you don't deserve what I did to you."

"Did you love me?" She looks him right in the eye, believing that she will be able tell if he lies.

"I don't know. I loved what we had; you were nothing but amazing to me. I didn't want to ruin that by telling you the truth about me. You completed me, in a way."

"But I didn't want to have sex with you. Why did you still stay after learning that?"

"I don't know, Pipes. I loved having someone who cared about me the way you did. I didn't think I could go that long without sex, but I wasn't going to let that stop us. So, I turned to other people to fill that void, I guess. It was a rookie mistake on my part and by no means your fault. It was your choice, and I thought that doing what I was doing was respecting you. But it's been several weeks since we broke up and I haven't done it once."

"I loved you. I was so in love that I failed to see the signs. Gods, I probably am still in love with you."

He takes a step away from her, so they are not dancing as close to each other. "What have you had to drink tonight?"

She groans. "Enough, probably. I wasn't paying attention. I wasn't planning on talking to anyone but Drew."

"Then maybe this isn't the best time to have this conversation."

"I don't have the courage sober; you know that. Are you seriously saying that you haven't had anything to drink?"

"As a matter of fact, no, I haven't. I want to remember my senior prom."

"Okay." She lets them dance in silence for a while before asking the burning question on her mind. "Do you hate me?"

"Gods, no, Pipes. If anything, you should hate me."

"Well, I just thought, because you…"

"I already told you my awful excuse for cheating."

"Well, you-"

"And my awful excuse for not telling you anything." He grins down at her.

She looks up at him and shyly grins back. "Sure sounds like you still love me."

"Pipes, I-"

"Or want to get back together, or what? Am I reading this wrong?"

"Pipes, I don't think I could be willing to commit to anything."

"But you've gone this long without sex anyways."

"Piper," He warns with a hard edge in his voice.

"And everything about your life is out in the open now." The floodgates have been opened and all the words start tumbling out. "And I'd be willing to have sex."

That does it. He pushes her away and steps back. "This is the alcohol taking, Piper. You would never say these things."

She steps back towards him and this time he does not back away. "But I have always wanted to say these things, I just now have the courage."

"This isn't courage, this is desperation. You need to leave." There is a hard edge to his voice that makes Piper worried.

"You don't want me here?"

"For your sake. Before you say something that you might regret later. We can talk, I promise. Just later."

She pauses, taking in his words and then looks up at him. "So, you do care about me?"

"Gods yes, Pipes, and I always will. But I can't have you getting hurt again, not on my behalf. I'm bad news, Pipes. Can't you see that?"

"But you were good to me." The song ends and they step away from each other. "Think on it, I don't want this to be the end of the story." She sashays back to her spot next to Drew on the bench. Jason stands there, watching her. She does not appear to be crying but she does not exactly look ecstatic to be here.

"What was that about?" Thalia startles him out of his trance.

He looks down at his sister. "I think she wanted clarity. That and to get back together."

"You know you can't do that."

He sighs, "I know. I'd only hurt her more, and that would break my heart."

Thalia looks confused for a split second before her eyes get really wide. "You are in love with her. You always have been."

"I thought she was so far out of my league that it would never work, so I didn't really try."

Thalia looks skeptical, but in the end accepts that answer. Another slow song starts up and Jason grabs her arms. After a minute she asks, "Why did you lie to Annabeth then? About love? At our place?"

"I didn't want her to think that the love I had for Piper was the love she should chase with Percy. She's like my sister, do you really think I could bear to see her hurt? Then I'd have to beat up Percy, and I don't want to do that because he is my bro. Though, I totally would win in a fight between us, don't ya' think?"

Thalia can not stop the giggle that escapes her lips. "You are such a dork."

"You love me." He teases her and sticks out his tongue at her.

"Somedays."

Annabeth's POV

"And now it is time to announce the Prom King and Queen." Drew stands at the microphone as head of the prom committee. Three girls walk up behind her, all holding fancy looking pillows. Two of them had crowns on them and the third, two pieces of paper. Drew daintily picks up the paper and looks at the crowd. "Well, don't you want to know?"

The crowd erupts, some people saying 'yes,' some just screaming, and a jock chanting 'no'.

Egged on by the reaction from the students, she dramatically opens the letter. "And the Prom King is… drumroll please…Charlie Beckendorf." Everyone erupts with cheers as Charlie is pushed up to the stage. He stands off to the side as the crowd dies down and Drew speaks again. "And your Prom Queen is… Selena Boreguard."

She climbs up to stand next to Charlie. Drew grabs one crown off a pillow and places it on Charlie's head. She grabs the other and positions it on Selena's. Another girl comes running up holding two bouquets of flowers and has two sashes hanging from her arms. These things are presented to Selena and Charlie. "And now, the traditional dance for the prom couple." The band starts to play the song "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift as the couple make their way to the dance floor.

_There I was again tonight, forcing laughter, faking smiles. Same old tired lonely place. Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy, vanished when I saw your face._

They grasp arms and I notice the look Charlie gives her; it's the same one Percy has been giving me for weeks. All it took was for me to see Charlie look at Selena that way to realize what it meant.

_All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you. Your eyes whispered, 'Have we met?'. Across the room your silhouette starts to make it way to me._

A few other couples join Charlie and Selena on the dance floor, and I see Percy a few feet away from me. We lock eyes and he seems to glide over to me. Without a word, he grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor.

_The playful conversation starts, counter all your quick remarks, like, passing notes in secrecy. And it was Enchanting to meet you. All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you._

"Are you having a good time, Wise Girl?" Percy gently brushes a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

I reach up and put my hand on the side of his face. "The best." He adjusts so his hands are both on my waist and mine are around his neck. I feel blush creeping up my cheeks.

_This night is sparking, don't you let it go. I'm wonder struck, blushing all the way home._

"This is romantic," I comment, caught up in the moment. I think he is feeling it too, so it's a big shock when he flinches. I give him a confused look.

"Yes, it is, I just- I just wasn't expecting that…right now."

"You're not being clear."

"I just got so used to you saying that you wanted to, needed to leave a fun event. And now this is romantic? That’s so out of the blue and it feels so wrong." There is almost a hard edge to his voice.

All of a sudden I am blinking back tears. "What? I'm-"

"Annabeth, you know I'm bad with words…" But I do not hear the rest, I turn and push my way through the crowd of dancers, trying to keep my head down and praying that no one notices me crying. I make my way to the deserted bathroom and lock myself in the furthest stall.

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew, I was enchanted to meet you._

"Annabeth? Is that you?" I have been so caught up in my own despair that I did not hear anyone come in.

I wipe my tears on my shirt and stand to unlock the door. Much to my surprise, Piper McLean stands there.

"Oh, my gods. Oh Styx. What happened to you?"

I do not answer, but instead just shake my head and burst back into tears.

"Did something happen? Was it Percy?" When I still do not respond, she takes that as a yes, and folds me into her arms. "Come on, I was leaving anyways. You can spend the night."

"Thanks Pipes." I shoot a text to Malcolm telling him I'm spending the night at Piper's and then we head out to her car. She pulls out all the stops we used to use on each other when every we needed cheering up. We make cookies, watch movies and sing karaoke late into the night.

_The lingering question kept me up. Two a.m., who do you love? I wonder till I'm wide awake. Now I'm packing back and forth, wishing you were at my door, I'd open up and you would say, hey it was enchanting to meet you._

"What do you think he meant?" I ask for the fiftieth time as Piper pulls out the gallons of ice cream from her freezer.

"Could it simply be that you shocked him? That he was not expecting a declaration of love from you?"

"We were both definitely feeling it, I think. He asked me to prom, made it really romantic. And he danced with me all night, every slow song except for two with Thalia and Hazel."

"What stage are you at in your relationship?" She asks, licking ice cream off her spoon. Neapolitan flavors, the same she always gets.

"There isn't a relationship. But-"

"You definitely like him and it is suspected that he likes you"

"Exactly. I thought we were at the start of something."

_This is me praying that, this was the very first page, not where the story line ends. My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again. These are the words I held back as I was leaving to soon._

"I wish I could have stayed and let him explain himself. Do you think I left too quickly?"

"Annabeth, honey, he is perfectly capable of dictating his thoughts. Don't blame yourself for this."

"Do you think he was stuttering because he had something to hide?"

"You mean, do I think there is another girl involved? I don't know." My heart sinks to the floor as I register what she said.

_Please don't be in love with someone else, please don't have somebody waiting on you. Please don't be in love with someone else, please don't have somebody waiting on you._

"Annabeth, you need to stop beating yourself up over this. Come on, we need a distraction."

She starts up a popular song on the karaoke machine and starts to sing. She has an amazing voice and it almost compels me to get up and sing with her. Soon she has me dancing all around the room a three a.m. still in our prom gear, feeling like a five-year-old playing dress up and dancing to Disney songs. We are laughing our heads off and as good as it feels, I cannot seem to shake the feeling of abandonment.

_This night is flawless, don't you let it go. I'm wonder struck, dancing around all alone. I'll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you_

I notice Piper start to quickly lose steam and suggest that we head to bed. I climb into her king-sized bed with her and she passes out rather quickly. One last though runs rampant in my mind as I close my eyes.

_Please don't be in love with someone else, please don't have somebody waiting on you._


	16. The Third Hospital Visit

Chapter 16

Percy’s POV

Sunday mornings have always been for me and my mom. Gabe is somewhere, sleeping off his hangover and my mom is in the kitchen telling me about whatever she is currently writing. I always sit, coffee in hand, listening to her intently. This Sunday is no different.

“…and then she remembered what he had told her the first time they met. She punches the combination in and the door swings open to reveal Jace, a dirty starved wreck, but her true love all the same. He jumps up and gets as close to her as he can with his bonds tying him down. Clary makes up the rest of the distance and they kiss. That’s the point I’m at so far.”

“How romantic,” I say and take a sip of my coffee, “I wish I had his skills.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this Jace guy is a hot mess and hasn’t seen his girlfriend in two years and the first thing she does when she sees him is kiss him. He must have mad game.”

She meets my eye and puts down the spatula that she got out to make eggs with but has been waving around as she talked. She grabs her mug and sits across from me. “What happened with Annabeth? I noticed she didn’t sleep here last night, and I thought that was the plan.”

“She slept at Piper’s.” I say and suddenly become really interested in the design on my coffee mug. Its purple with a wavy texture of circles and dots engraved on it.

“Pipers?” She furrows her brow in confusion, “But I thought they were on bad terms with each other. Isn’t that what you’d said? That they’d had a fight?”

I take a swallow, “Me too. But she ran off in the middle of a slow dance and left with Piper. Didn’t even text me, won’t respond to my calls even now. Malcolm told me that she wasn’t coming home when the dance was over and I was heading towards the car.”

“What made her run off?”

“I’m not entirely sure. It was the Prom King and Queen’s dance together and we joined. She said something like ‘this is romantic’ and it startled me, I guess.”

She takes another sip of her hot tea. “Startled you?”

“Yeah, I guess I thought she wasn’t in it for that. Like we were at prom together but it felt like we were going as friends and that anything between us was because of the crash. I didn’t think she wanted anything else.” I sit back in my chair, exasperated. I run one hand through my hair and look up at my mom.

She chuckles slightly. “You are hopeless.”

“Thanks. That is not helpful. What do I do now?”

“Learn from the past. Realize that she might be in it for you, as much as you are for her.”

“It does not look like I am going to have that chance.”

“Ask her to prom again.”

“What?” I freeze, my fingers slowly fall from my hair.

“You heard me. Did you not see her reaction when you asked her to prom? She loved it. Now you just need to show her that this goes beyond one dance, one night.”

I look up at my mom. Her messy hair up in an equally messy bun. Her tattered baby blue bathrobe hangs off her shoulders and the circles under her eyes are very prominent. She is not someone you would expect to receive wonderful relationship advice from. That’s my mom for you. “That’s really wise, thanks mom.”

She just smiles. “Did Malcolm ever get back to you?”

“Yeah, he just said that she was upset and needed some quality girl time. She’s not home yet, apparently she and Piper were up really late last night.”

“I hope she got what she needed.”

I meet her smile. “Me too.”

She stands back up to continue making the eggs and I get lost in thought for a moment, wondering how I’m going to pull this thing off.

“SALLY!!”

Both my mom and I jump. Gabe’s voice echoes off the walls of the small kitchen and he hasn’t even unlocked the door yet. My mom and I both tense as we hear the door slam open and catch sight of a still-slightly-drunk-yet-extremely-hungover Gabe. He grabs my mom by her shoulders and starts to violently shake her.

“HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STEALING FROM ME?”

“Gabe- I – I don’t know what you are talking about- I – I swear.”

“THE SIDE BANK ACCOUNT? THE JOB? HOW LONG DID YOU THINK YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH THIS?”

“Gabe- You’re hurting me.”

“YOU DESERVE IT, YOU DUMB DOG, YOU LYING, CHEETING PIECE OF CRAP.”

“PUT HER DOWN!” I snap out of my trance and jerk to action. I attempt to wrestle my mom from his iron grip. I’m not nearly as strong as him, but he is drunk and I get one arm free.

His gaze rests on me. I’m barely an inch shorter than him, and in the moment, anger helps me feel so much more powerful. He flings my mom to the side like a piece of trash and she goes limper than a rag doll. I know she hit her head on the cabinet on the way down, but I pray that she was unconscious by then and did not feel the pain.

Gabe takes advantage of my momentary distraction and his right hook neatly connects with my jaw. My vision swims and I reach out and steady my self on the table. That is when the left hook comes in and squarely connects again. I go down. I hear him stomp away and I pull out my phone. I dial 9-1-1 and lay my head down on the cold tile floor. Gabe utters a string of curses that would have impressed Luke Castellon, who is known for having a dirty mouth.

I hear a loud crash and then Gabe muttering to himself. “You don’t deserve a TV or…” another crash, “Books, nice lamps, stupid photos.”

He storms off into one of the rooms and I lift my head enough to see my mom lying in a pool of blood. I lay silent for a second, my ears pricking for any sound of Gabe, but I hear nothing and hurry over to my mom. There is a gash along the side of her head, but it does not look too bad. Besides, don’t they say that head injuries always look worse than they are and bleed a lot? Her bathrobe has fallen off her shoulders and I can see the bruises forming from where Gabe had grabbed her. My head swims and I collapse next to her on the floor against the cabinets.

Gabe emerges from the office with my mom’s computer in one hand and his prize base ball bat signed by Babe Ruth in the other. “That lying, filthy, cheating whore.” He throws the computer at my mom and proceeds to beat it with the bat while it is lying on top of her. Pieces of metal and glass start to fly everywhere. A few land in my legs and my arms which I am using to shield my face.

Enraged, I stand and grab the handle of the frying pan that now holds burnt eggs. I blindly and wildly swing it at his head. He just steps back and laughs at me as I stumble with the follow through. “You fool. You think that she is worth protecting? Don’t you see how she has ruined this family?” He lashes out his leg to kick her in the head and while he is distracted, I swing again. This time it connects with his head and a deafening crack reverberates around the walls.

Much to my dismay, he does not crumple to the ground like my mom had, but instead stumbles back a few feet. The bat falls from his hand. I place my feet in a fighting stance in front of my mom and hold the pan out in front of me like I would a gun.

That is the moment the police choose to break down the door. “NYPD Put your hands behind your head! Get on your knees!”

Gabe does what they ask after sending me a nasty scowl. I set the pan on the table and follow suit. 

“Is she okay?” One of them asks, gesturing to my mom.

I just shake my head. He grabs the radio from his belt and speaks urgently into it. “Get the stretcher up here. We’ve got one unconscious and two that need attention. This looks like a common case of domestic abuse; attacker is in hand cuffs.”

Another officer is behind Gabe, putting him in handcuffs and telling him his rights. A doctor rushes in and kneels next to my mom. He gently rolls her over and does some basic testing before more doctors start to put her on a stretcher. The first doctor comes over to me.

“Are you hurt? Can I see?”

I numbly show him where my arms are bleeding. While he is checking them, I get really dizzy and sit down.

“Kid? Are you alright?”

I find that I do not have the energy to respond and give in to my overwhelming desire to lay my head on the table. The world swims for a minute and then goes black.

When I come to again, I’m in the hospital. I am not in a room by myself, but instead in a part of a much larger room sectioned off with curtains. The lights are so bright that I am unable to see clearly. I blink and try to sit up, but my whole body seems to protest. I groan and try to power through the pain and prop myself up. I notice both of my hands are wrapped with a soft bandage. I have an IV running through my arm as well as a few bloody bandages covering cuts with stitches

Will seems to appear out of nowhere and gently pushes me back down. In any other circumstance, I would have been strong enough to fight back, but I lay down as he wants.

I try to speak. “Happen….mom…?”

“Your mom is in surgery now. She was not in great condition, but it looked worse than it was. Gabe is suffering brain trauma and facing a life in prison. And you just need some rest.”

He is talking way to fast; it makes my head spin. I succumb to the will of my body and start to relax against the scratchy bedding. When Annabeth was in the hospital, she got nice bedding. “Annabeth!” I sit straight up, which turns out not to have been the smartest idea. I grab Will’s arm to steady myself. “Annabeth, call Annabeth.”

“Don’t worry Percy, I will. Go to sleep now.”

I lay back on the pillow, but I find that I am no longer tired. I just lay and listen to everything around me. The beeping sounds of a monitor. The crying of loved ones. The occasional scream. I now understand why Annabeth hates hospitals.

I lay there in silence for probably an hour, just taking in all the noises around me, drifting in and out of consciousness, until I hear Will’s voice drifting down the hallway. “Annabeth? Hey. It’s me, Will… Yes, I am currently on shift at the hospital and it has been requested that you know of a patient’s status…Sorry, I just don’t know how to say this. Percy and his mom and step-dad are all here. No one is in great shape… Annabeth, please calm down. Percy is fine. He just had a minor concussion and needs rest… You can visit him tomorrow.”

I wince, knowing that Annabeth is not going to be able to sleep tonight because she will be too worried about me. She’ll be here half an hour before visiting hours tomorrow morning. Maybe. I sink back into my pillows as I remember that she hasn’t been answering my calls and ran off on me during a dance.

“Earth to Percy.”

I look up, startled, to see Will back at the foot of my bed.

“Hey, Will.”

“I called Annabeth, which, in hindsight, may not have been the best of ideas. But she is worried about you, as glad as she was to hear from you. I’m not sure what she meant by this, but she said something along the lines of ‘I was wondering why he stopped trying to call me.’”

I grimace. Annabeth has probably thought I’d given up. It makes some part of me glad that she knows I am not going to abandon her, even if I get beat up for it.

“Your mom is out of surgery.”

I meet his eyes and see nothing but pain. I swallow, bracing myself for the worst.

“She’s okay. She will live and there is no lasting head trauma.”

“But…?”

He looks away and at the floor, breaking eye contact with me. “But… one of the pieces of glass from the computer lodged itself in her spine and caused irreversible damage. She will never walk again.”

And the world stops spinning. My vision goes blurry and so do my thoughts. Images flash through my mind. My mom smiling down at me when I’d told her about my plan to ask Annabeth to prom, her hair up in her trademarked messy bun. My mom, so focused on whatever story she was writing that she did not notice me come in with a cupcake to celebrate her birthday. Going to the park with my mom and getting ice cream after I got discharged from the hospital after another episode with Gabe. I remember the dreamy, far off look she gets in her eye every time she tries to draw me into whatever world she is currently creating in her mind. I remember the night when we put on some movie, popped pop corn and danced around the kitchen, singing along to the soundtrack like a bunch of kindergarteners and Disney movies. I remember when she helped me move into my room with the fire escape. All the blue cookies she baked and the blue candies she would smuggle home for the two of us to enjoy.

And it feels as though my heart has been ripped from my body. She is never going to walk again. That means no more racing each other up the stairs to our apartment. No more sunsets on the fire escape. No more dancing to retro music as we clean up after a poker night.

I struggle to breathe as the gravity of the situation settles on me. “Can I see her?”

“Technically no.” He looks at me with his head titled to to the side as though he is reading French and trying to determine if it is English or not. “Can you stand?”

I grin and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I wince automatically and my hand flies to my head, but I fight the pain and put my feet on the floor. I notice that I am not wearing socks and that my legs have a similar pattern of bandages and stitches as my arms.

The tile floor feels freezing to my feet, but that is the least of my worries as I struggle to maintain my balance. Will puts his arm around me to support me. He gently unhooks the IV from my arm and he leads me through the maze of curtains in the room. A few are open and I see many patients, most of them are sleeping and few look to be in better condition than myself.

My mom’s room actually is not all that far away but the walk seems to go on for miles. By the time we arrive, my head is swimming. Will helps me into a chair and attaches an IV to my arm that he seemed to summon out of nowhere.

After a minute, I can see clearly again. I am in the same waiting room I spent hours in while Annabeth was in the hospital. There is a mom relaxing in a chair in the corner while two young kids play at her feet. Other than her, the room is vacant. Dr. Apollo comes out of one room carrying a clip board. He spots me and Will and comes over to us.

“Really, Will? Breaking the rules for your friends, again?” he chuckles slightly.

Will shrugs, “He would’ve escaped to find his mom anyway.”

“How is she?” I ask quickly, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

Dr. Apollo shrugs. “You can go see for yourself. She looks normal and claims to feel fine. Woke up right after surgery, too. She’s a fighter. Room 309.” He nods towards one of the doors and walks down another hallway.

Will looks down at me, “Are you ready?”

I stand up a little too quickly and have to sit back down. I take a deep breath and try again. I manage to stay standing and Will puts his arm back under mine to support me. I walk to the room Dr. Apollo had indicated and Will opens the door.

I pause in the doorway and our eyes meet. She is wearing an identical hospital gown to me. Her hair is a rats nest and hangs down her back, which I know she would protest if she had the energy. She hates having her hair down, especially if it is messy. This morning, when I had thought that the bags under her eyes were pronounced, was nothing compared to now. She just looks exhausted as though she has just finished a marathon. Her arms have the same bandage and stitches pattern like mine, but I know that her’s continues over her whole body.

“Mom.” I start to walk forward but sway on the spot. Will pulls a chair up next to my mom’s bed and I sit in it. He then leaves us alone. “Mom, how are you? Are you okay?”

She reaches out and grips my hand weakly. “I don’t know if I will ever fully recover from this. I’ll be fine physically, but I can’t believe I let him make a lasting mark on me.”

“You didn’t let him do anything to you. Think of these as battle scars,” I trace the cuts on her arm gently, “Many soldiers are proud of them. Your victory trophy. Your sacrifice for a better life.”

She smiles. “You should be the writer here. You have such a way with words.”

“But I could never come up with the complex, intricate storylines that you do. Clary fighting possessed demons, some of them her best friends, just to see her boyfriend again? You expect me to think that up?”

“You were listening.”

I pull my chair closer to her. “Of course.”

After a beat of silence, she speaks. “Did you talk to Annabeth?”

“They took my phone, but Will called her. She’ll be here tomorrow.”

She smiles at me, but I can tell by her eyes that there is more she wants to say on the subject. Romance has always been her specialty.

I do not press her though. I definitely do not have the energy right now.

“I should let you sleep, Mom. You just got out of surgery. You need to heal.”

She just smiles and falls asleep, as though waiting for permission.

I sit there, perfectly content to watch her sleep for hours, but I notice myself getting drowsy pretty quickly. I pull myself up and towards the door. I have no idea where my bed is, but a helpful nurse points me in the right direction. All the hallways start to blur together until I end up in the room where my bed is.

Much to my surprise, standing at the foot of my bed is none other than Annabeth. She is looking at something on her phone, but every few seconds looking around her. Our eyes meet. She doesn’t even bother to put her phone down or in a pocket. She rushes towards me and flings her arms around me.

“Percy, oh gods, Percy. I was so worried.”

“Annabeth.” I breathe the word in her ear. It tastes sweeter than honey on my tongue to say.

She takes a half step back so she can look in my eyes. She uses one hand to slip her phone in her back pocket, her other still tightly gripping my arm.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, Annabeth. I’m okay. Are…are you? I’ve been worried about you, how you ran off.”

“I’m fine, this isn’t about me, Percy.” She looks so worried. Her curls are thrown back in a loose ponytail and her clothes make it look like she left the house in a hurry, which she probably did.

“But it is. Look Annabeth, I’m really sorry about how I reacted last night. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I-“

She cuts me off by crashing her lips to mine. Her hand pulls my face down towards her in a gentle yet needy way. She says everything with this one action.

I reach out and put one hand behind her hand and the other on her back and pull her closer as I kiss her back. We have a whole conversation of unspoken words and it goes on for what seems like forever before we come up for air.

“Annabeth.”

“Percy.”

“My Wise Girl.”

“My Seaweed Brain. Mine.”

I rest my forehead against hers and we stay like that until my legs can not take the stress anymore and start to give out under me. Malcolm appears out of nowhere and helps me back into my bed. He does not say anything, but I see a familiar gleam in his eye. He had the same look on his face when I’d told him I was taking his sister to prom.

He then disappears as quickly as he’d appeared, leaving me and Annabeth alone again.

I look at her and smile. “So, that happened.”

“Are you going to make it this awkward every time I do anything remotely romantic?”

“Probably. Awkward is my middle name.”

She laughs. “You’re lucky I don’t run out this time.”

“I had the quick thinking to kiss you back instead of flinching this time.”

“That you did. You’re not always a seaweed brain, I guess.”

“Yet you are always a wise girl.”

She blushes but does not respond. I look her up and down. One of my sweatshirts hangs loosely off her shoulders and around her small frame. A pair of athletic leggings peak out from under the sweatshirt and her tennis shoes are not tied. It’s clear that she did not get much sleep last night.

She takes a deep breath. “Percy, what happened?”

“Gabe found out about my mom’s job at the candy store and freaked out. He was drunk and started throwing things at her.”

“How is she?”

“She’s paralyzed waist down. I don’t know how we are going to work this out. She’s going to need a lot of help during the day. Everything is going to change. She won’t be able to clean or drive or-“ My voice catches in the back of my throat. I had not realized how much fear was behind this situation until now.

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t worry. We will work something out. You don’t have to deal with this alone.”

Will and another doctor I do not recognize pull back the curtains. Will is unable to hide is shock.

“Annabeth. Hi.”

“Hi Will.”

“Mr. Jackson, we are here to escort you to your room where you will stay until you are discharged,” The older doctor says.

I start to sit up and Will comes over to help support me. Malcolm enters as if on cue, again, and he and Will lead me down the hallway to a room near my mom’s. The trauma patients who do not need immediate help. They get me situated and the older doctor leaves.

“Do you guys need anything? You all good, Percy?”

“I’m good. How’s my mom?”

“She is asleep still. Test results show no more complications. You both should be out of here within a week. After which, you can complete the trial with Gabe.”

I nod. Annabeth pipes up. “Can I see Sally?”

“She’s asleep right now, but once she wakes up, I’m sure she’ll appreciate the visit.” And with a nod, he leaves and shuts the door behind him.

Annabeth looks down at me. “You should get some sleep too. Sleep is the best medicine.”

I frown. “No, laughter is the best medicine. And you are good at making me laugh. Besides, it’s like the middle of the day. I’m not tired.”

Malcolm looks at the watch on his wrist. “Its four-thirty.”

“Right,” I look back at Annabeth, “The middle of the day. Besides, it’s not even dinner time yet.” At the mention of food, my stomach growls.

“How abouts, I go and get us some dinner,” Malcolm suggests, “And then we can head home.”

Annabeth and I nod and Malcolm leaves quick as a flash. I look up at her. “Is it just me, or is Malcolm avoiding us?”

She shrugs. “I thought he’d be mad at you after last night. I did not expect him to offer to drive me here.”

I laugh at the face she makes. “I think…I think that he just likes the idea of the two of us having some alone time.”

She just looks at me, confused. I think she is trying to tell if I’m being serious or suggesting something dirty or what. I quickly explain. “He was the one who heavily encouraged me to ask you to prom. Not, that I wouldn’t have anyways,” I say hastily, “But he has been there every step of the way, encouraging this.” I point to the two of us.

She flushes slightly. “Malcolm? Are you sure? That is so unlike him. So he knew the whole time? About the prom-posal?” She shakes her head in disbelief.

“Yeah he did. Despite our rocky start, he’s really stepped it up for you. He’s a great brother and he just wants what is best for you.” I reach out and grab her hand.

“And what is best for me, is you?” She smirks at me.

I throw my hands up in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture. “According to him, not me. Well, according to me too, but…”

“I’m really glad he did that.”

“Me too.”


	17. Together At Last

Chapter 17  
Annabeth’s POV  
I sit with Thalia in the waiting room that is next to Percy’s room. Nico and Jason are in visiting Percy and Hazel is talking to Sally.   
I’m telling Thalia everything from what happened at the dance to when I kissed him.   
“I came to the hospital right away after Will called me. Malcolm drove me and I told the nurse I was his sister so she would tell me where he was. He wasn’t in his bed when we got there so Malcolm went to the vending machine. I waited and sure enough he’d found his way back.”  
“And you just went for it?” She sounds impressed.  
“Well, I hugged him and made sure he was fine, but he would not stop worrying about me and asking me how I was doing since I’d run out on him and then, before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing him.”  
“Was it good?”  
I am not sure whether to be shocked or confused and I am sure both are reflected on my face as I lightly shove her shoulder. “He’s your cousin!”  
She shrugs innocently. “He looks like a good kisser.”  
“Well, I wouldn’t know. I have nothing to compare it too, but it sure felt pretty magical.” I smile just remembering that moment when nothing else mattered. It was a scene right out of a movie where the world spins around the kiss and slow romantic music played and no one is surprised that they are kissing.   
“So, did you two talk it out? About what happened at prom?”  
I nod. “Yeah, we did. I think everything is going to work out.”  
Nico and Jason come out of Percy’s room with smiles on their faces. Thalia jumps up, eager to see her cousin. Before she can go anywhere, Will walks up to us, clipboard in hand.  
“Is anybody in there with Percy right now?” he asks, “I need to take some data.  
He looks right at Nico, so we all let Nico answer. “No, he’s alone.”  
“Thanks.” He gives a small nod before disappearing into Percy’s room.  
Thalia turns and gives Nico the same look she has been giving me every time I talk to or about Percy. I must be missing something here.   
I shoot her a text as we sit back down to wait.   
?  
Her phone vibrates from the pocket of her leather jacket. She pulls it out and reads the text. She looks up at me and mouths “What?”  
I give a slight nod to Nico.  
“Later,” is all she mouths back.   
I give her a look that she knows all too well, ‘I’ll hold you to that.’  
Hazel comes out of Sally’s room and joins us, sitting in a chair across from us. “Can we go see Percy?”   
“Nope,” Thalia grumbles, “Will has to do some checks on him or something.”  
“You don’t sound happy about that.”  
“I’m not. I want to see my cousin. And it’s not fair that Annie here,” she pats my leg, “got to see him before the rest of us.”  
“Thalia,” I protest without any real effort. We both know I needed to see him first. She just grins wickedly. She pops her earbuds in and Hazel and I awkwardly look down at our phones to ignore the looming silence.   
After what feels like an eternity, Will comes out of Percy’s room and hands his clipboard to a passing doctor. After exchanging a few words with the man, he makes his way over to us. Thalia stands and heads straight to Percy’s room, only stopping to give Nico the same look. Hazel shrugs at all of us and follows.  
“I have an update on Percy,” Will says to the three of us remaining.   
I look at the boys. Nico is staring at the ground, almost embarrassed and Jason is suddenly really interested in whatever game is on his phone. I start to wonder if I am seriously missing something here.   
I let Will talk to Nico and I tune out the rest of the world. After they moved Percy to his own room last night, they gave him his phone back. I start to smile as I read back through some of the texts we had sent last night.   
Dude, I can’t wait to be out of here  
I bet.  
You should go to bed  
So should you.  
Not tired. Besides, I’m texting a beautiful girl and I don’t wanna stop  
Awwwwww. I remember the way my heart had jumped out of my chest when I had received that text. It was dark in my room, but I am sure that someone would have been able to see that I was blushing.   
:)   
:)   
You’re actually amazing, Wise Girl  
Thanks. You too  
No, but actually. It amazes me.  
Really?  
Yes. 100%  
You’re not so bad yourself ;)   
Heyyy :(   
:)   
You should actually go to bed tho, you have school tomorrow  
Thalia and Jason are planning on skipping to come visit you  
No theyre not, they know better. My mom would kill them. The can come see me after school.  
Okay then, Good night Seaweed Brain  
Good night Wise Girl  
I smile and click my phone off. Everything has happened so fast. The Prom-posal was less than a month ago and Prom was just two days ago. Two days ago, I had thought that all my dreams had come true and then had come crashing down on me. Now, even though the situation is worse overall, for us, all of my dreams have actually come true  
I stand in my full length mirror and twirl a bit as I study my outfit. My hair is pulled back into it’s usual pony tail. I have on my favorite shirt form Goode, a longer light blue shirt with the logo on the breast pocket, and a coral knitted sweater that hangs down by my thighs and is left open. I have on my favorite pair of black leggings tucked into a pair of army boots and a black purse slung over my shoulder.   
I hear a knock on my door and turn to see Erin standing in the door frame. She looks me over and smiles. “Excited?”  
“Nervous,” I correct.  
She cautiously comes over towards me. “Even though you two have gone out for dinner many times before?”  
“But this time it’s a date.”  
I nod. She smiles warmly and grabs my brush off my bed. With a quick flick of her wrist she pulls my hair out of it’s ponytail and begins to untangle it. After a moment there is another knock on my doorframe.   
“Percy’s here,” Malcolm says with a smile. He walks over to stand next to me in the mirror. “You look gorgeous, Annie.”  
“Thanks, ‘Com.”  
He swiftly puts his arm around my waist. “Let me escort you to the door, my last chance to ever have you alone.”  
“You’re ridiculous,” is all I manage to reply, but I let him walk me to the door where Percy is standing.   
He is wearing a long sleeved baby blue button down shirt, untucked, and a pair of jeans. He has the biggest smile on his face and I have no doubt in my mind that I have a similar one on.   
“Ready to go?”  
I look back at Malcolm and he nods. “You betcha!”  
I follow him to his car and climb in the passenger seat. I clutch my purse nervously on my lap as I buckle my seatbelt.   
My thoughts run a million miles a minute and my breathing begins to quicken.   
Why? I think to myself Why is this so scary?  
I turn my head and look out the window. I bite my lip nervously. I do not say anything and he does not either. I wonder if he is as nervous as I am. He does not seem to be the type of person to get nervous.   
He takes us to a nice little café. When he parks, he flashes me his traditional grin and we climb out of the car.   
Nothing is said as we make our way inside and I can feel the awkward tension building. He picks out a table for two by the front windows for us and a waitress comes over to take our order.   
“So, what’s new in your world?” He asks casually.  
“Not much,” I answer with a cheesy grin and an awkward chuckle. Both of us can tell, at this point, that there is unnatural awkward tension between us.   
“Oh gods,” Percy mutters to himself. He puts his head in his hands and runs his fingers through his hair. “Why?” He looks up right at me and my eyes meet his green ones.   
“What?” I ask him genuinely confused by his actions.   
“Why is this so dam hard? Annabeth I- we go out to eat together all the time. We’ve spent hours and hours together and-“ He pounds his fist on the table.   
I giggle slightly. “I was asking myself those same questions earlier.”  
“You were?”  
I nod. “I was so nervous while getting ready. Erin came in and I think I was literally shaking. I’ve never been nervous to be around you before. She said it was because tonight is labeled.”  
“It’s a date, not just dinner.”  
At that moment, the waitress comes back with our food and conversation ceases as I realize just how hungry I am. Conversation began to flow a lot easier. After dinner we go back to Percy’s place to put in a movie and pop popcorn like we usually do. This time we choose Titanic. About halfway through, he turns it off.   
I look at him curiously as he stands.   
He just smiles and, without an explanation, he grabs my hand and pulls me to his room. When he starts to open his window I understand: the sun is setting. I gather my sweater tighter around myself and climb out after him.   
“Not a cloud in the sky,” he says as he sets up the chairs, “It is supposed to be gorgeous tonight.”  
I just smile as I sit in the chair he has set up for me. The air has a warm tone to it as it gently pushes my hair into my face.   
I notice him staring at me with a sly smile on his face and I catch his eye. “What?”  
“I just can’t believe it took me so long to realize how beautiful you are.”  
I burst out laughing. “You are such a dork, Seaweed Brain.”  
“Right back at you, Wise girl,” He says with a wink. I scoot my chair closer to his and lay my head on his shoulder. He kisses my forehead before resting his head on mine. The sky began to explode in a rainbow of colors as the sun grew closer and closer to the Manhattan skyline.   
At some point, his hand found mine. And we lay there together for what seemed like hours after the sun set. Not speaking, but just being there with each other.   
If anyone had told me before Christmas break that I would end up spending a lot of time with one of the most popular boys in school, I never would have believed it. Especially, if they had told me that we would go on to date and that I would spend many nights with him.   
But now, I do not know where I would be without him. My world has certainly changed. I have more true friends as well as a boyfriend.   
Is Percy my boyfriend?  
I lift my head to look at him. He looks back. “What’s on your mind, Annie?”  
I shake my head to bring myself back to reality. “What?”  
He laughs slightly. “You have that look on your face that you get when you get so lost in thought.”  
“What are you thinking about?” I counter.  
“You,” he replies simply. After a pause he adds, “Look, I know people usually wait for this, but we’ve just been through so much together, Annabeth, and I really think I love you.”  
“You think you love me?” I ask, a light smirk on my lips.   
“I am 100% completely in love with you, Annabeth, and I want you to be my girlfriend.” He looks me straight in the eye and just by his voice I can tell how much he means what he is saying.   
Even through the dark, I know he can tell just how much I am blushing. “That depends.”  
“On?  
“First…will you be my boyfriend?”  
“I think that is a given.” He is full on smirking at this point. “What is the second condition?”  
Something malicious comes over me and I sit up in my chair, my face inches from his. “Second… does it mean I get to kiss you?”  
He cups my chin with his hands. “Always,” he breathes and before I realize what is happening, his lips are on mine again. The world spins and I am brought back to that night at the hospital.   
It feels so perfect, I know he must have done this before. One of his arms snakes its way to my waist, perfectly supporting me as I melt under his touch, while the other firmly holds my head against his. His lips are smooth and taste slightly of the popcorn we had been eating during the movie.   
He pulls away, leaving me breathless and dizzy. I lay my head on his chest as I wait for the world to stop spinning around me. One of his hand begins to gently twirl and play with my hair. I smile.  
“That was magical.”  
“Yeah, it really was, wasn’t it?”  
“I thought those kinds of moments only happened in books.”  
“We can make them happen as often as you’d like.”  
I look up and through the darkness I can just make out his goofy grin. I know that I am in love with him.   
“Let’s go finish the movie,” he suggests.   
I nod and help him lean the chairs up by the wall before climbing back through the window.   
Sally greets us in the kitchen with three mugs of hot chocolate. She has been getting better at getting around in her wheelchair. “Hey, guys. How was your night?”  
Percy and I look at each other and smile. “Pretty amazing,” I say.   
“That’s good. I’m glad. I made you guys hot chocolate, it was always my favorite thing to drink while watching a sad movie.”  
“Thanks, mom.” Percy gently kisses his mom on the cheek before handing me one of the mugs. I notice how tired and frail Sally seems Has she always been like that?  
“Yeah. Thanks so much.”  
She stands. “I think I’m going to go to bed. Annabeth, are you staying the night?”  
I have absolutely no idea. We have not talked about that. I look up at Percy who nods hopefully. I can not help but giggle at the slightly ridiculous sight. “Probably, I’ll have to check with Erin.”  
She nods and pats me on the back. “See you in the morning then, Sweetheart. Good night, Percy.” And with that she heads to her office. Percy told me that she spends most nights on the couch in her office or the air mattress in his room because she can not bear to sleep in the room that she and Gabe used to share.   
I pull out my phone and shoot a text to Erin and my dad. I click my phone off and look up at Percy. “Who am I kidding, they are both asleep and if they were to care enough to respond, it would be something dumb like ‘use condoms.’”  
He laughs. “That might be a problem, seeing as I don’t think I actually have any condoms.”  
I let my hands fly to my chest and take a very overdramatic breath. “You mean to tell me that a teenage boy who is nothing if not a giant flirt does NOT have condoms in every room of his house and then some?”  
He threw his hands back in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture and I can see his laugh in his eyes. “Sorry to disappoint, but I wasn’t actually planning on getting a girlfriend tonight.”  
“Well, you should have thought of that before you asked me to be yours.”  
He comes up behind where I am sitting and puts his arms around my chest. “I should have indeed, though, if I remember correctly, you are the one who asked me to be your boyfriend.”  
I giggle and he gently kisses me on my cheek before dragging me into the living room to finish the movie.   
Even through I have not seen this movie in years, Malcolm and I used to watch it all the time. For the first few years Dad and Erin were together, they would go out several nights a week and Malcolm and I would sneak downstairs and watch the only real movie we owned- all the rest were war documentaries. This stopped for a bit once Erin was pregnant, but as soon as we were old enough to babysit, they continued going out and left the twins with us. After they were in bed, Malcolm and I would curl up on the couch and watch the movie. He was always the crier. I would sit there and list ways that the boat could have been fixed or built better or ways for both Rose and Jack to live while he would quietly add to a growing pile of used tissues. Because of this, he used to tease me and tell me I was heartless. After a while, we both had more homework or better things to do and the tradition just kinda stopped.   
Tonight, however, for whatever reason, my usual tactics of distracting myself did not work and I end up a sobbing mess in Percy’s arms.   
“Why?  
Percy just continues playing with my hair. “Because Poseidon was having a bad day.”  
“But why?”  
“Because the head builder cut some safety checks.”  
“They could have both fit, Percy, I know it.”  
“I’m sure they could have, Annie, but Jack didn’t want to risk Rose’s life.  
“So he would die for her?”  
He just looks down at me. “Wouldn’t you?”  
Would I?   
He answers his own question. “I would.”  
“You kind of already did when you saved my life.”  
“Well, I do love you.”  
“And I, you.”

He bursts into laughter. I sit up. “What?”  
“You’re just so- I love you.”  
“I’m just so what?”  
“You are just so you, Annabeth and I would not have it any other way.”  
I just smile and lay my head back in his lap. Once the credits roll, we head back to his room. He turns the lights on and I notice what a mess it is. He has clothes and books everywhere and the air mattress is still set up. Neither bed it made. He grabs a tshirt and some sweatpants for me since it was not planned for me to stay over.   
“I’m going to go say goodnight to my mom.”  
I nod, “okay.” He heads into the hallway and I lock myself in the bathroom. I pull my hair down and watch in the mirror as it falls down my shoulders. I study the way it makes my face look thinner and adds a shadow around my neck.   
Is this what beautiful looks like? I feel daring, daunting, maybe slightly sexy, but not beautiful. I take a second and let my face relax to where I can stop scowling. Keeping eye contact with myself, I take a step back so I can see more of myself and strike a pose. After a second, I realize how ridiculous I look and I burst out laughing. I catch a view of my face with the biggest smile on it, and decide that this is what is looks like to be beautiful.   
I let my sweater fall to the ground and pull my shirt over my head. I study myself, standing in my bra and I notice where fat sticks out I notice where the bra is hugging me a little too tightly and where it does not make me look any better, but one look back at my face and I am laughing again. This, I decide, Is what it feels like to be loved. And that is beautiful.   
I Pull his t-shirt on and kick off my boots. I choose to wear my leggings to bed, but I grab his blue hoodie that he'd prevously set on the bathroom counter. When I come back into his room, he has changed into some sweats and he is holding a toothbrush and toothpaste.   
"My mom found these for you," he says, "Since you don't have any here."  
"How thoughtful." I practically dance over to him and grab them. he follows me into the bathroom and together we brush our teeth. he takes some medication and we crawl into his bed together. He gently kisses the top of my head, before crawling next to me.   
"Goodnight, Wise Girl."  
"Goodnight, Seaweed Brain. I love you."  
I hear him slightly chuckle behind me. "I love you, too."


	18. The Reconciliation

God to my Goddess

Chapter 18

Annabeth’s POV

Somehow everyone seemed to know what had happened with Percy and his step dad by the time he came back to school. I had been spending almost every night at Percy’s house, so he drives us to school on the Monday he comes back. After putting the car in park, I notice him take a deep and calming breath before climbing out.

“Everything okay?” I ask him.

He nods. “Yes. I’m ready to go back.”

I grab his hand and we walk towards the school together. Thalia and Jason catch up with us by the front doors.

“What’s up, my dude?” Jason asks, giving Percy a side hug, as Thalia pulls me into a hug.

The rest of the day goes off without a hitch. Percy and I are still in most of the same classes and I go wait for him in the natatorium while he finishes swim practice. After a few minutes, someone sits down next to me. I look up from my book to see Piper, of all people.

“Hi, Piper,” I say cautiously. She has not been actively hating me but, we have not had any sort of friendship since the night of the prom.

“Hi, Annabeth. I just wanted to check up on you.”

I give her a side look. “Check up on me?” I repeat.

“Umm, yeah.” She brushes a few stray strands of hair out of her face. “Well, see how you were doing since our sleepover after prom. I see you and Percy are back together.”

“Together, for the first time,” I correct gently. “We were never actually a couple before now.”

A familiar look comes over her face, like it always does whenever boys are brought up. “That’s good. I’m glad things are working out.”

“Me too.”

“But like, how are you doing, Annabeth? I know you and Percy, well, just Percy really, went through some hard stuff recently, and well, I just wanted to make sure that, that you were handling it okay.”

I let her stutter through that almost painful sentence because she is not usually like this. Piper is not one to usually care about anything other than surface level relationships and it almost feels nice to hear it from her.

I look across the pool to where Percy is standing in his swim suit with a towel around his neck, coaching some of the other kids. “I’m doing better, staying strong and all that. Percy, he’s surviving, and believe it or not, what he’s going through made it easier for us to get together.”

She scoots a little closer to me on the bench. “Are you not at all worried that Percy is just using you to get over this tragedy in his life?”

I close my book and look at her. “Deal with it, Piper. I managed to win over the heart of Percy Jackson, not you.” A light smile comes over my lips. Oh, it feels so good to be back bantering with Piper like this again.

She matches my smile. “Well, darn, that’s too bad. There go my plans for the evening.”

I throw my arm around her and she leans her head on my shoulder. I never realized how much I missed my friendship with Piper.

“Did I tell you that Jason and I made up?”

I look down at her in surprise. “No, you didn’t”

“We did, at prom. I went and danced with him and we kinda talked things out. Well, he tried too, I was slightly tipsy.”

We both laugh. Classic Piper, drinking at prom. “What happened.”

“He apologized for cheating and all that. He told me he still loved me but didn’t want to get back together, not due to my pushing.”

“Hold up!” I place my hands on Piper’s shoulders so I can see her face. “You told him you wanted to get back together? Piper… why?” I groan with exasperation.

She giggles slightly and tries to cover her face with her hands. “I was slightly tipsy, I told you. Also, I may or may not have told him I’d be willing to have sex with him if we got back together.”

I can not believe the sight in front of me. Piper, blushing furiously and embarrassed, sitting in front of me nearly laughing herself to tears because of a boy.

“What did he say?”

“He said ‘no’ like any gentleman would.”

“That’s good. We wouldn’t want our Precious Piper here losing her virginity to a cheating gentleman.”

She sticks her tongue out at me, but she still holds her face in her hands.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” I ask.

“Have you and Percy…done it yet?”

“Piper!” I exclaim loudly and lightly hit her shoulder. “Why would you ask such a thing?”

“Hey, just asking,” She giggles. She then looks at me expectantly, as though she actually wants me to answer.

I look back at Percy. “No, we haven’t. We haven’t even come close, it… it’s just kinda not like that with us, you know?”

She just nods. Her braids bob on her shoulder. I notice how just much shorter her hair is now that she’s cut it. “I wish Jason and I had been like that,” She says wishfully.

“You got a haircut,” I comment, unable to find anything else to say on the subject of sex.

She flips her hair around. “Yup. Did it myself and everything.” We both dissolve into a puddle of giggles. Her phone buzzes and she looks at it. “Ye-ouch. I’ve got to go.” She stands.

I give her a hug. “Thanks, Piper. We should hang out again soon.”

She winks at me. “Duh. Bye sweetheart!”

She leaves and I turn back to my book but I am unable to focus very well because I keep wandering back to what Piper said. Percy and I have not even come close to actually having sex, is that a normal thing? It seems like abstaining is a good thing, but everyone else seems to be doing it all the time. Besides, Percy and I just got together, it might still be too soon to be thinking about this type of thing.

Right?

Before I come to any sort of conclusion, I am interrupted. “Hey.”

I look up to see Percy leaning over the railing separating the bleachers and the pool floor. I smile and walk over to him. He leans up to kiss me on the cheek. “So, you got plans for the evening?”

I look up and pretend to think about it. “Yeah, actually. I’m busy.”

“Busy? Doing what?”

“I have a hot date”

He smiles. “Who is the lucky guy?”

“Well, he is tall and handsome and has the most gorgeous green eyes.” 

Percy leans up to kiss me one the cheek again. “He sounds perfect”

“He is.”

He grabs his stuff and leads me out to the car. It’s a Friday night and he told me he was taking me out, but he has kept it a surprise as to where we are going.

It turns out he takes me mini golfing. He is as bad as I am and we had so much fun together. We stop for ice cream on the way home, and then he drives me back to my place.

Malcolm is waiting up for me, but everyone else is asleep. “How was your night out?” He asks, standing to give me a hug.

“Awesome!” I say, “it was so much fun, but I am dead on my feet”

He laughs. “Well, you’d better go right to bed. You can’t be tired for the party tomorrow.”

It takes me a moment to remember what he is talking about, but Piper is throwing a party at her place. Everyone will be there, but it’s really a sort of reconciliation party for the crazy year between most of us. I know Drew is going to be there with Selena and Hazel. Even Jason is showing up. Nico finally grew some guts and will be there with his date, Will. Percy and I are going together and I know Luke will be there as well. I’m really excited.

“You’re right. I really should get to bed. I don’t want to miss anything tomorrow night.”

He smiles at me and turns off the tv. “To bed then.”

I get myself ready for bed, but between my talk with Piper, all the feels from my date with Percy and my excitement for the party tomorrow, I find it really hard to fall asleep. Eventually I pull out my phone and text Percy late into the night.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for sticking with me all the way to the end! I hope that you enjoyed it. This totally was not born out of me fantasizing about my crush and all so... let me know what you thought.   
> Peace -Kiki

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this work on Fanfiction.net under the same username: Sophrosyne-Lacuna. It should not be posted anywhere else. Thanks -Kiki


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